banh mi
I’ll go out on a limb and say that Banh Mi are one of the most delicious things in the world. A happy marriage of french bread and vibrant vietnamese flavours. Crunchy, spicy, salty, sweet, pungent and fresh. I love them.
I got the urge to make them when I saw some people eating them for lunch the other day. I haven’t eaten one since going vegan. There is no reason not to, they’re easy to replicate.
So the next day I set about making some. Mine are made up of a crusty baguette, filled with some sort of protein, lettuce and cucumber, some vegan mayonnaise, spicy chilli, coriander, spring onion and a mild quick sweet pickle of carrot and onion.
I used some seitan for my protein using a recipe from The Post Punk Kitchen. I don’t know what it is with me and seitan, but this recipe is the only one I’ve ever made that worked and tasted good.
They are excellent with a beer…. 🙂
- ½ cup vinegar (I used apple cider, but any mild vinegar will be OK.)
- ¼ cup water
- ¼ cup sugar
- 1 tablespoon vegan fish sauce
- 1 carrot (julienned)
- ¼ red onion (finely sliced)
- 2 crunchy baguette rolls
- 2 tablespoons vegan mayonnaise
- lettuce leaves
- cucumber (finely sliced)
- fried seitan (I used seitan. Tofu or tempeh would also be good)
- sriracha sauce
- fresh coriander leaves
- spring onions (finely sliced)
- Put the vinegar, water, sugar and 'fish' sauce into a bowl or saucepan and microwave or heat until the sugar dissolves. Allow to cool a bit.
- Add the carrot and onion to the vinegar mix and allow to steep for 10 minutes. while you assemble the remainder. This will make enough pickle for 2 baguettes.
- Slice the baguettes in half and spread with the mayo.
- Add the lettuce, fried seitan/tofu/tempeh, cucumber, pickles, spring onions, sriracha sauce and fresh coriander leaves.
I got my vegan fish sauce from The Cruelty Free Shop.