The Banh Mi Handbook: Recipes for Crazy-Delicious Vietnamese Sandwiches [A Cookbook]

by Andrea Nguyen

Overview

A cookbook devoted to the beloved Vietnamese sandwich, with 50 recipes ranging from classic fillings to innovative modern combinations.

Created by Vietnamese street vendors a century or so ago, banh mi is a twist on the French snack of pâté and bread that is as brilliant as it is addictive to eat. Who can resist the combination of crisp baguette, succulent filling, and toppings like tangy daikon and carrot pickles, thin chile slices, refreshing cucumber strips, and pungent cilantro sprigs? You’ll have ample opportunities to customize your sandwich with filling options such as grilled pork, roast chicken, and “the special”—a delectable combination of garlicky pork, liver pâté, and Vietnamese cold-cuts.

Opening a new realm of flavor for anyone tired of standard sandwich fare, The Banh Mi Handbook presents more than fifty recipes and numerous insights for crafting a wide range of sandwiches, from iconic classics to modern innovations, including: 

Crispy Drunken Chicken
Shrimp in Caramel Sauce
Grilled Lemongrass Pork
Beef and Curry Sliders
Coconut Curry Tofu
Lettuce Wrap Banh Mi

Respected food writer Andrea Nguyen’s simple, delicious recipes for flavor-packed fillings, punchy homemade condiments, and crunchy, colorful pickled vegetables bring the very best of Vietnamese street food to your kitchen.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781607745341
Publisher:	Clarkson Potter/Ten Speed
Publication date:	07/08/2014
Sold by:	Random House
Format:	eBook
Pages:	132
Sales rank:	570,017
File size:	15 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

ANDREA NGUYEN is a celebrated food writer and teacher whose work appears in the Los Angeles Times, Wall Street Journal, and Saveur, where she is also a contributing editor. Her previous books, including Into the Vietnamese Kitchen, Asian Dumplings, and Asian Tofu, were highly acclaimed and nominated for James Beard and IACP cookbook awards. Andrea has a loyal readership and strong online presence through her two blogs (vietworldkitchen.com and asiandumplingtips.com), Twitter (@aqnguyen), and Facebook.

Read an Excerpt

homemade mayonnaise 
Makes 1 generous cup (250 ml)  ■   Takes about 5 minutes, plus 30 minutes resting
Part of the banh mi maker’s craft is preparing mayonnaise from scratch. While I do keep a jar of store bought, full-fat mayo in the fridge, when I want the best banh mi possible, I make it. It’s easy in a food processor; see Mayo Notes for a blender method. You’ll need a measuring cup with a spout to pour the oil.

1 large egg, near or
at room temperature
¼ plus ⅛ teaspoon salt 
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard 
2 teaspoons water 
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 cup (240 ml) canola oil 

Put the egg, salt, mustard, water, and lemon juice in the food processor’s work bowl. Start the processor and after a creamy yellow mixture forms, 5 to 10 seconds, start pouring the oil through the feed tube in a slow, steady stream as thin as angel hair pasta. Midway through, after things thicken, pour a thicker stream, as wide as spaghetti. 

After about 2 minutes, all the oil should be incorporated and the mayo should be creamy and spreadable. (If yours is curdled or soupy—broken—see Mayo Notes, opposite.) If needed, adjust with extra salt (savoriness) or lemon juice (tang), pulsing the machine to blend well. 
Transfer to an airtight container. Before using, wait for 30 minutes to meld flavors and firm up. Keeps well in the refrigerator for at least a week.

Table of Contents

Introduction 
banh mi 101 
Banh Mi Pantry  ■  Master Banh Mi 

bread 
■  13  ■
Bread Buying Guide  14  ■  Homemade Banh Mi Rolls  17

mayonnaise, sauces, and pickles 
■  23  ■
Homemade Mayonnaise  24  ■  Sriracha Aïoli  26  ■ 
Cilantro Maggi Mayonnaise  27  ■  Eggless Mayonnaise  28  ■  Garlic Yogurt Sauce  29  ■  Mock Maggi Sauce  30  ■ 
Spicy Hoisin Sauce  31  ■  Daikon and Carrot Pickle  33  ■ 
Citrusy Red Cabbage Pickle  34  ■  Pickled Shallot  36  ■  Snow Pea and Lemongrass Pickle  37  

cold cuts 
■   39  ■
Garlic Pepper Pork Tenderloin  40  ■  Cheater’s Silky Sausage  42  ■  Garlicky Silky Sausage  44  ■  Beef and Dill Sausage  45  ■  Gateway Chicken Liver Pâté  47  ■ 
Quick Pork Liver Pâté  48  ■  Edamame Pâté  48 ■ 
Headcheese Terrine  51  ■  Baked Maggi Tofu  53 

chicken 
■   55  ■
Hanoi Grilled Chicken  57  ■  Classic Chicken  58  ■ 
Chicken Sausage Patties  59  ■  Chicken Sate  60  ■ 
Sri Lankan Black Curry Chicken  63  ■  Rotisserie Chicken and Cracklings  65  ■  Crispy Drunken Chicken  66  ■ 
Oven-Fried Chicken Katsu  68  

seafood 
■   71   ■
Shrimp in Caramel Sauce  73  ■  Viet Oyster Po’ Boy  74  ■  Panko-Crusted Tilapia  75  ■  Sardine and Tomato Sauce  76  ■  Herbed Salmon Cakes  79  ■  Spicy Wok-Seared Shrimp  81

pork and beef 
■   83   ■
Grilled Lemongrass Pork  84  ■  Meatballs in Tomato
Sauce  87  ■  Chinese Barbecued Pork  89  ■ 
Caramel Sauce Pulled Pork  90  ■  Crispy Roast Pork  93  ■  Viet Home-Style Doner Kebab  95  ■  Beef and Curry
Sliders  96  ■  Star Anise and Lemongrass Sloppy Joe  97  ■ 
Korean Beef and Kimchi  99  ■ Maggi Steaks  101

vegetarian 
■   103   ■
Peppery Portobello  105  ■  Gingery Tofu Sliders  106  ■ 
Egg and Tofu Pancakes  107  ■  Coconut Curry Tofu  108  ■  Thai Fried Omelet  111  ■  Lemongrass Sriracha Tempeh  112

alternative banh mi 
■   115   ■
Banh Mi Buns  117  ■  Lettuce Wrap Banh Mi  120  ■ 
Banh Mi Salad  121
Acknowledgments  ■  122
Index  ■  123

Editorial Reviews

05/15/2014
Nguyen's previous cookbooks—Asian Tofu; Asian Dumplings; Into the Vietnamese Kitchen—won accolades from the James Beard Foundation, the International Association of Culinary Professionals, and notable cooking publications. Here, she demonstrates an infectious passion for the banh mi, a Vietnamese sandwich with mid-century origins that's become a mainstay of trendy food trucks and Asian sub shops. Her treatment of its principal components—bread, sauces, pickles, cold cuts, pâtés—is detailed and varied, and she's careful to explain the purpose of ingredients and techniques (like the crushed vitamin C tablet in her homemade rolls). VERDICT Best for meat eaters, this book empowers readers to make hundreds of standout sandwich combinations.

Library Journal

One of NPR's Best Cookbooks of 2014

“ Who better than Andrea Nguyen to unravel the mysteries of one of the great sandwiches of the world? Her book is deceptively simple on the outside but bursting with layers of flavor and complexity within—just like the best banh mi. As always, Andrea puts mastery within the reach of any curious cook smart enough to take her advice.”
—Joe Yonan, author of Eat Your Vegetables

“ Brimming with information, inspiration, and smart advice, this is much more than a sandwich book. Andrea Nguyen once again demonstrates her commendable talent for writing recipes that deliver great tasting food and teach you to become a better cook.” 
—Molly Stevens, author of All About Roasting   

“ Andrea perfectly tells the story of how Vietnamese food culture was influenced by French colonials. Her simple recipes elevate very humble ingredients to heights you would not expect. I can’t wait to incorporate some of these ideas into our sandwich menu.”
—Sam Mogannam, owner of Bi-Rite Market

“Through these recipes, Andrea tells her life story. From childhood lunches of silky sausage on toasted baguettes to postmodern banh mi smeared with curried edamame pâté, she sketches the transformation of a sandwich, born of French and Chinese colonization and Vietnamese ingenuity, into a global culinary phenomenon.”
—John T. Edge, author of The Truck Food Cookbook

"Lots of tasty riffs on the meaty, pickly, crunchy, saucy, spicy Vietnamese sandwich."
—Cooking Light, July 2014

"The banh mi sandwich is itself the product of many miles traveled: the crusty bread brought to Vietnam by French colonists, filled with all the bright, hot, fresh, meaty, intensely tasty elements of the local cuisine. This delicious cultural collision is the subject of "The Banh Mi Handbook: Recipes for Crazy-Delicious Vietnamese Sandwiches" by Andrea Nguyen.  . . .  it's a master course in banh mi construction, from the bread to the pickles and condiments to every imaginable filling, whether it's pork meatballs or fried oysters or a lipsmacking citrus-marinated grilled chicken you're hankering for."
—Wall Street Journal, June 2014

From the Publisher