Banh mi thit

Make your very own Vietnamese pork rolls at home with our simple recipe for this takeaway favourite. Start from scratch by pickling the carrot and making the mayonnaise, then add crunch with fresh cucumber, coriander and chilli.

Bánh mì thit Credit: Alan Benson

• serves

  2

• prep

  30 minutes

• cook

  10 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

• 2 Vietnamese baguettes (see Note) or other similar crusty white bread rolls
• 2 tbsp store-bought pork liver pâté (see Note)
• 1 large Lebanese cucumber, cut lengthwise into 4, seeds removed
• ½ cup coriander sprigs 
• 2 spring onions, green part only 
• Maggi Seasoning sauce (see note) or soy sauce and sliced red bird’s-eye chillies, to serve

Mayonnaise

• 1 egg
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• 125 ml (½ cup) vegetable oil

Pickled carrot

• 80 ml (⅓ cup) white vinegar
• 75 g (⅓ cup) white sugar
• 1 large carrot, peeled, coarsely shredded

Lemongrass pork

• 125 g minced pork
• 3 tsp grated palm sugar
• 3 tsp fish sauce
• 2 tsp soy sauce
• ½ lemongrass stalk, green part reserved, white part finely chopped
• ¼ tsp crushed garlic
• 2 tsp vegetable oil

Standing time: 1 hour

Instructions

To make mayonnaise, place egg and lemon juice in a small bowl and gradually whisk in oil until thick and emulsified. Add 1 tbsp water and whisk to combine. Season with salt and refrigerate until needed. Makes 1 cup.

To make pickled carrot, place vinegar and sugar in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir to dissolve sugar and remove from heat. Place carrot in a bowl, pour over vinegar mixture, add 1 tsp salt and stir to combine. Stand for 1 hour or until cool. Drain carrots, discarding liquid, and refrigerate until needed.

To make pork, knead mince in a bowl with ½ tsp salt until smooth. Working in 2 batches, gather a ball of mince and throw it back into the bowl, repeating for 2 minutes, to tenderise. Add sugar, fish sauce, soy, lemongrass and garlic. Mix well to combine. Halve reserved lemongrass and shape pork mixture around each piece to make 2 x 10 cm pork 'kebabs'.

Heat a chargrill pan or barbecue to medium. Rub oil over pork and cook for 4 minutes each side or until golden and cooked through. Remove from heat and set aside to cool.

Split baguettes open and spread with mayonnaise and pâté. Cut pork 'kebabs' in half lengthwise and divide among baguettes. Add pickled carrot, cucumber, coriander and spring onion, and season with Maggi Seasoning and salt and pepper to taste. Scatter with chillies, to serve.

Refrigerate leftover pickled carrot in its liquid in an airtight container for up to 1 month and the mayonnaise for up to 4 days.

Note
• Vietnamese baguettes are available from Vietnamese bakeries.

• Pork liver pâté and Maggi Seasoning sauce are available from Asian food shops.

Photography by Alan Benson

As seen in Feast magazine, Issue 16.

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Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.