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Serves: 4
TASTE OF CATER CARE FACT
A Bánh Mì is a Vietnamese-style sandwich and a product of French colonialism in Indochina. It combines ingredients from the French including baguette and widely used Vietnamese ingredients such as coriander, cucumber, and chilli.
Our recipe incorporates the popular cut of meat, pork belly, which is slowly braised until it is tender in a sauce made with fish sauce, light soy sauce, coconut water, shallots, lemongrass, and chilli. This dish is perfect to serve for morning tea or for a relaxed but slightly exotic lunch.
INGREDIENTS
- 40ml Water
- 50gm Caster Sugar
- 500gm Pork Belly (Boneless) – cut into a 2cm dice.
- 30ml Fish Sauce
- 30ml Light Soy Sauce
- 1Lt Coconut Water
- 2 Shallots – use white stem only and lightly bruise.
- 2 stems Lemongrass – lightly bruise.
- 1 Long Red Chilli – remove stem, seeds, and membrane and lightly bruise.
- 2 French Baguettes – remove ends, cut into 4 equal pieces, then make a slit in the top and cut ¾ of the way down to create an opening.
- 2 Lebanese Cucumbers – top, tail, and finely shave with a peeler.
- 240gm Carrot – top, tail, peel and coarsely grate.
- 4 Shallots – use green stem only and finely slice.
- 32 sprigs Coriander – rinse and drain.
- 2 Long Red Chillies – finely slice widthways.
- 60ml Soy Sauce
METHOD
1. Over a moderate heat in a saucepan, add the water and caster sugar, mix to thoroughly combine ensuring the sugar has fully dissolved. Bring it up to a gentle simmer and continue to simmer until it caramelises and has turned a light brown colour.
2. Add the pork to the saucepan, mix to thoroughly combine it with the caramel.
3. Add the fish sauce, light soy sauce and coconut water, mix to thoroughly combine. Bring the braising sauce up to the boil, then add the first quantity of shallots, lemongrass and the first quantity of red chilli, mix to thoroughly combine. Reduce the heat and allow the sauce to gently simmer for 1½ hours, stirring regularly or until the pork is tender and the sauce has reduced and thickened. Remove the saucepan from the heat, remove the pork from the saucepan and any remaining sauce and place it into a bowl, stand to one side and allow the pork pieces to cool to room temperature.
4. Gently open up each cut baguette and evenly distribute the pork between them. Evenly top the pork with cucumber, carrot and the second quantity of shallots. Top each with coriander sprigs and the desired amount of sliced chilli. Finally, lightly drizzle each with a little soy sauce.
TO SERVE
Stack the filled baguettes onto a serving board or platter.
