Braised Pork Banh Mi Sandwich
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 4-6 sandwiches
 
My take on this traditional Vietnamese sandwich.
Ingredients
  • For the Braised Pork:
  • 1 2-3 lb pork shoulder (bone in or out)
  • 1 head garlic, cloves roughly chopped
  • 1 small knob (about ¼ cup chopped) fresh ginger
  • 5 stalks fresh lemongrass
  • 2 cups chicken stock
  • ¼ cup soy sauce
  • ¼ cup black vinegar
  • 3 tablespoons sesame oil
  • (for any of these last 3 ingredients you can replace with any flavors or sauces you like or have on hand, such as fish sauce, ponzu, rice wine vinegar, etc)
  • salt and pepper
  • For the sandwiches:
  • 2 carrots, thinly sliced in or shredded
  • 2 daikon radishes, thinly sliced or shredded
  • 4 cups water
  • 3 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
  • 3 tablespoons sugar
  • 2 tablespoons salt
  • 1 large cucumber, seeded and thinly sliced
  • 1 bunch cilantro
  • ¼ cup mayo
  • siracha or hot sauce to taste
  • 2 cups mushroom pâté (or pâté of your choice, to taste)
  • 2 large baguettes
Instructions
  1. For the braised pork:
  2. Preheat the oven to 325 - I use a dutch oven for this recipe, but you can make it using a crock pot by using a large pan for searing the meat and then adding all ingredients to the crock pot.
  3. Liberally salt and pepper all sides of the pork shoulder. Using a 7 qt dutch oven over medium heat, sear all sides of the pork shoulder. Remove the pork shoulder and set aside.
  4. Remove excess fat from dutch oven so you are left with about 2 tablespoons. Add roughly chopped ginger and garlic and sauté until slightly browned and fragrant, 2-3 minutes. Add soy sauce, black vinegar, and sesame oil (or flavorings of your choice) and cook until reduced slightly, about 5 minutes. Add pork back to dutch oven. Add lemongrass and chicken stock so it comes about to about halfway up the pork.
  5. Cover dutch oven tightly with lid and place in the oven. Cook 4-5 hours, or until the pork is completely tender and shreds easily with a fork. Turn the pork once during the cooking process.
  6. Let the pork cool completely before shredding with forks or with your hands. Strain excess cooking liquid to remove all bits of garlic ginger and lemongrass - discard this, but reserve the liquid to add back to the shredded pork to keep it moist.
  7. For the sandwiches:
  8. Pickle the vegetables: Combine 4 cups of water, vinegar, salt and sugar in a sauce pan and bring to a boil. Turn off the heat and add thinly sliced carrots and daikon radish. Let sit for a minimum of 30 minutes, and up to a week.
  9. Combine mayo and siracha to taste to create siracha-mayo spread for sandwiches.
  10. Assemble the sandwiches: This part is all up to you! Onto the baguette, add as much siracha mayo, pâté, pickled vegetables, cucumber, cilantro, and braised pork as you like. Enjoy!
Recipe by The Two Bananas at https://thetwobananas.com/braised-pork-banh-mi-sandwich/