Banh mi with lemongrass pork
It was in New York where we had our first banh mi. There was a little place called Pho Sure about a mile down the road from where we lived and The Professor and I quickly became addicted to their amazingly tasty banh mis. This Vietnamese sandwich was unlike anything we had tasted before.
Now, I have had a lot of sandwiches since I arrived in the US. When you combine zero cooking experience with teeny-tiny paychecks in grad school, you quickly become the favorite customer at the local Subways and Quiznos.
Banh mis though, are in a league of their own. These sandwiches are filled with incredibly flavorful meats, the bread has just the right amount of chewiness with the perfect crust and the veggies are crispy and crunchy and absolutely scrumptious. We tried a lot of different kinds of banh mi when we were in New York and we never, ever had a bad one.
However, we had never had one with lemongrass pork before, so when I stumbled across Andrea Nguyen’s blog, I knew I had to try this combination right away. The lemongrass pork turned out to be unbelievably delicious – it was so fragrant and so flavorful that I had a hard time stopping from inhaling the entire plate by myself.
Lemongrass has firmly catapulted itself to my top favorite ingredients list and I don’t think I have ever come across such a maddeningly fragrant herb. If you have never used it before, you must try it at least once! You will be blown away by it. Trust me!
Try to find good french baguettes when you assemble the banh mi – it doesn’t quite work without it! Our local bakery was out of baguettes, so we settled for a gigantic loaf of French bread that made the normally dainty banh mi, look more like a Flintstone sandwich. So, please, get yourself some good baguettes. And if you happen to be one of those rock stars who make their own baguettes, then more power to ya!
Lemongrass pork
Here is the recipe – 
Lemongrass pork (Thit Heo Nuong Xa)
Using this recipe
Ingredients
2 lbs pork country style ribs (sliced into 1/2 ” thick slabs, big fat pockets cut out)
4 tbsp brown sugar
2 tbsp garlic paste
2 tbsp minced shallot
2 stalks lemongrass, finely chopped, white and pale green parts only (see this link for tips about chopping lemongrass)
1 tbsp dark soy sauce
3 tbsp fish sauce
2 tbsp vegetable oil
10 kaffir lime leaves, chopped finely
freshly ground black pepper
Method
1) Throw all the ingredients, except the meat, into the bowl of a food processor or blender. Pulse it until it becomes a smooth paste. Transfer the mixture along with the meat in a big bowl. Make sure that the meat is thoroughly covered in the marinade. Cover with a plastic wrap and let it marinade overnight.
2) Turn on the broil in your oven. Let it get nice and hot for a good 5-10 minutes. Meanwhile, line a large glass baking dish with aluminum foil. (If you don’t, then the sugars in the marinade are going to burn and make cleaning up a HUGE mess). Transfer the entire marinade into the baking dish and arrange the pork pieces in a single layer.
3) Broil the meat for 30-40 minutes until the pork is completely cooked through. Make sure you turn the pork pieces and baste them in the marinade every 10 minutes or so. This will give all the edges a very nice char. You should also turn the baking dish halfway through the process, so that the front and back of the dish cook evenly.
4) Let the meat rest for 15 minutes before slicing it thinly. Mix it with all the juices/cooked marinade that have accumulated in the baking dish.
Now let’s assemble the banh mi!
Banh mi with lemongrass pork
To assemble sandwich
French baguette (or any French bread), sliced down the middle to open like a book. You could partially scoop out the bread on one side to make piling on the meat and veggies easier.
Chopped lemongrass pork
Mayonnaise
1/2 head purple cabbage, sliced
1 bunch cilantro, chopped
1 English cucumber, sliced
3-4 jalapenos, seeded and diced
Pickled carrots (using this recipe)
Pile everything on, as much as you want and your banh mi is ready! Enjoy!
Banh mi with lemongrass pork
