The Banh Mi

Ok. I'm an awful blogger.  I still haven't downloaded my 4th of July photos yet. I know, I know.  But anyway, I had to go ahead and post this anyway, because these are just that amazing. So, I'm calling it The Banh Mi because I don't know how Vietnamese plurals work (is it banh mis? Because that doesn't look right).  Anyway, a banh mi a (really good) Vietnamese sandwich on a French baguette.  We had these at my aunts baby shower and let me tell you, every single person at that party went back for thirds at least (or in my case, fifths). They. Are. So. Good. Trust me.

The polka dotted background reminds me of the the Madagascar 3 trailer... da da da-da-da- afro circus, circus afro, polka dot, polka dot, polka dot afro...(or something along those lines) which has been sung constantly by myself siblings and mom.  The rest of our time is spent singing Harry Potter Literal.  What is wrong with us?
Anyhoo, on to the sandwiches!  This recipe is from Viet World Kitchen.

Ingredients:
1 baguette or homemade baguette or toasted sandwich rolls
 Mayonnaise, real (whole egg) or homemade mayonnaise
Maggi Seasoning sauce or soy sauce
Your choice of boldly-flavored meat or tofu, sliced (we used teriyaki chicken)
3 or 4 thin seeded cucumber strips, pickling or English variety preferred
2 or 3 cilantro sprigs, roughly chopped
3 or 4 thin jalapeño pepper strips or slices, depending on how spicy you like it (optional, but very delicious)
 Daikon and Carrot Pickle

1. Slit the bread lengthwise, and then use your fingers or a bread knife to hollow out the insides, making a trough in both halves. Discard the insides or save it for another use, such as breadcrumbs. If necessary, crisp up the bread in a toaster oven preheated to 325ºF, and then let it cool for a minute before proceeding.
2. Generously spreading the inside with mayonnaise. Drizzle in some Maggi Seasoning sauce or soy sauce. Start from the bottom portion of bread to layer in the remaining ingredients. Close the sandwich, cut it in half crosswise for easy eating, and enjoy.

To save time, we stuck our pickles in the food processor with one of the attachments.  Its not quite as pretty, but its much faster than hand cutting matchstick sized pieces.

However, on our sandwiches, we somehow skipped the soy sauce (or maggi sauce, whatever that is) and cilantro and did not hollow out our bread (accidentally) but they would probably make it a lot better.  Also, I found that I still liked the store bought ones better (and they are fairly cheap, yay!).  They come in a variety of flavors from meatball, to BBQ pork (which is my favorite...I think).