Banh Mi - Vietnamese Subs
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| Sub sandwich with a side slaw |
This is an Asian
and French fusion food at it's best. The sandwiches are pretty easy to make – but can take
a lot of ingredients and prepping. I've always said anything that takes effort is worth
it.
I recommend
marinating the meat the night before, and in the morning turning it over to
give the other side a chance to soak in the goodness. If you don’t have time to
marinate overnight, try to give the marinate two hours to give the meat a
chance to absorb some of the flavors.
You could try using another meat cut, but
the flank steak is best since it’s an affordable meat option, has a lot of
flavor (meat that is generally tough usually has more flavor) and slicing the meat against the grain helps to chew.
These subs
are filling and healthy – look at all the veggies!
Ingredients:
Meat and
marinade:
1 – 1.5
pound Flank Steak (get a lean piece with no fat)
½ cup Soy
Sauce (you can use reduce sodium) or Tamari
1 tbs of
Sriracha Sauce (or you favorite hot sauce – you can use more or less)
1 inch piece
of fresh Ginger, finely chopped or grated
2-3 cloves
of Garlic, chopped or grated finely
1 tea Sesame
Oil
1 tbs Fish
Sauce
1 Lime,
juice and zest to get 1 tea of the outside
1 tbs Honey
¼ cup Water
Slaw:
1 English
Cumber, remove seeds and cut into thin long strips
1-2 Carrots,
shredded
1 small
Daikon*, cut into sticks OR 3-4 Radishes, thinly sliced
2 Tbs of
Sugar
2 Tbs of
White Vinegar
Sriracha
sauce: (optional)
2 Tbs of
Mayo
1 tea of
Sriracha**(or more/less if you like)
½ - 1 tea of
Honey
½ - 1 tea of
White Vinegar
Sandwich:
1 Baguette
or other crusty buns
1 cup
Cilantro, washed and remove thick stems
1 small
Jalapeno pepper or other chili pepper, thinly sliced (optional)
¼ cup of
Liverwurst (optional)
*Daikon is a
long radish that is a light tan in color. If you can’t find it (like me) use
the regular radishes. The regular radishes are sweeter too.
Tools:
Large covered
lasagna pan or large freezer bag to marinate meat, bowls, bread knife, chopping
board, knife, mandolin(optional), whisk, measure spoon or cups, BBQ or grill
pan, grater, zester, juicer, strainer and spoons.
**Sriracha is the Asian chili and garlic condiment you can find at restaurants. It's in a squeeze bottle with rooster image on the bottle and a green top. It's spicy.
Marinating
the meat
As mentioned
above, the longer the meat has to marinate, the better. The seasoning will
penetrate and make the meat tender and tastier.
Take a large
pan (where you can cover and place in the fridge) or a freezer bag add the
whole flank steak. In a bowl add the marinade ingredients and whisk them
together. Add to the meat and make sure to cover the meat completely. Refrigerate
overnight or at least two hours. I think it is best to flip or move the meat in
half way in marination time-to make sure the other side had a chance to get seasoned.
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| This is what sixteen hours of marinate does to the meat, Dark and rich tasting. |
Take the
meat out of the fridge to bring about 30 minutes before cooking. Best to get
the meat to room temperature which reduces sticking on the grill. Cold meat on a
hot surface can get sticky.
The Slaw
About an
hour before grilling the meat, make the slaw. Add the cucumber, carrots,
radishes, sugar and vinegar to a bowl. Mix well. Let the slaw stand for a least
30 minutes to get the veggies to release some water.
 |
| Straining the veggies |
After the
slaw had a chance to marinate and release some water, use a strainer to remove
the water. Set aside.
Make the
sauce
If you don’t
care to make the sauce, you don’t have to. You can just add the mayo as a
condiment. But if you want to add a little bit more spice – mix all the
ingredients in a bowl and set aside for a few minutes while the meat is resting
or while the slaw is resting.
Grilling the
meat and prepping the sandwich:
Get the
grill hot to cook the flank steak. We like our meat on the medium side, if you
like well done – try not to overcook the meat. Grill the meat on each side 3-5
minutes on med/high heat. You don’t want to char the meat, but get a nice grill
on it. If you don’t have a grill, you can pan fry it. Just add a little of oil
to a hot cast iron pan. Though, nothing beats grilled meat.
As the meat
is grilling, you can prepare the rest of the items in a sandwich assembly line.
Cut the baguette to the sandwich size portions you like, and slice open.
When the
meat is done, rest it for a least 5 minutes. Always rest your meat after
grilling or roasting. This gives the juices a chance to settle. Slice the meat
against the grain on a slight angle. Look at the lines on the meat, don’t cut
the same direction, just cut the opposite way – this is the trick to not having
the meat be tough to bite into.
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| Slicing the meat, we own a HUGE Cleaver. - Thanks Knifewear |
Spread the
sauce or mayo and or the liverwurst. Liverwurst is traditionally used, and it
is truly optional. If you’re not a fan – leave it out. The baguette and pate is
what give the French fusion to this dish.
Layer on the
slaw, add the cilantro (don’t like cilantro? Leave it out or use parsley
instead), and peppers. Top with the meat.
Side slaw
dish (extra recipe)
½ package of
Broccoli slaw mix
Dressing:
Sriracha
sauce: (optional)
2 Tbs of
Mayo
1 tea of
Sriracha (or more/less if you like)
½ - 1 tea of
Honey
½ - 1 tea of
White Vinegar
Put all the items in bowl and mix together.
I just made
more of the sauce and added it to a bag of broccoli slaw I had in the fridge.
For a last minute side dish – it was pretty good. Plus, it went well with the
sub since the flavors were the same.
The sandwich
is a meal on its own. If you want a side – here is a slaw. My hubby was asking
what else we were going to eat with the sandwich and I came up with this small
side slaw.
If I had
more time, and if was a bit chilly out, I would’ve made a hearty Asian inspired
noodle soup. But that can be for another time.
Enjoy.
Hope you try
this out and let me know how it turned out.
