The Art of Building the Perfect Banh Mi Sandwich

As Chef Sasha Marx and his team worked on perfecting their banh mi sandwich, they knew that it was all about balance and harmony. "You get these rich flavors, and you get the heat, but then you get the vinegar and the herbs that cleanse your palate," Sasha explained. "It's like a rollercoaster where it's like you get these waves of flavor, and you just want to ride it again."

To achieve this balance, Chef Sasha followed traditional banh mi ingredients, including pork liver pate, jalapenos, xiu mai (steamed dumplings), daikon radish, mint, cilantro, pickles, and fresh cucumbers. He also added a creamy layer of mayo and pate to the bottom of the sandwich, which helped to hold everything together.

One of the key rules that Chef Sasha broke was using too much bread. "I like to see just enough bread to hold it all together," he said. Instead, he removed a little bit of the top crust from each slice to create a more balanced ratio of filling to bread. This allowed the flavors to shine through and created a nice textural contrast.

As they worked on building the sandwich, Chef Sasha's team member Helen shared her expert opinion on visual presentation. "I like to see it come out the sides when you squeeze it," she said, referring to the sandwich's generous filling. "And I love it when the pate is just oozing out of the top."

Helen also offered some valuable advice on the importance of balance in a banh mi sandwich. "You need to have it just overflowing on one end or the other," she said. "I think that it needs to be very generous in terms of the amount of filling." Chef Sasha took this advice to heart, loading each component into the sandwich with abandon.

In the end, Chef Sasha's hard work paid off, and the banh mi sandwich was a hit. Helen gave it a score of nine out of ten, praising its perfect balance of flavors and textures. "It has everything you want," she said. "It's fresh, it's spicy, it's acidic and sweet from the pickles, it's super creamy." With its springy texture, tender meatballs, and generous filling, the banh mi sandwich was a true winner.

To make this delicious sandwich at home, Chef Sasha offers some valuable tips and tricks. First, start with a good quality baguette that can hold up to the generous filling. Next, add a layer of creamy mayo and pate on the bottom of each slice to help hold everything together. Then, build the sandwich by adding layers of pork liver pate, jalapenos, xiu mai, daikon radish, mint, cilantro, pickles, and fresh cucumbers. Finally, top it off with a thin crust of bread that's just crispy enough to add texture.

As you assemble your banh mi sandwich, remember the importance of balance and harmony. Don't be afraid to get creative and add your own favorite ingredients or flavors. And most importantly, have fun with it! With practice and patience, you'll be building banh mi sandwiches like a pro in no time.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: en(upbeat rock music)- Banh mi is the perfect sandwich.It's all about balance.From the bread to the spread,to the pickles, to thefresh herbs and veggies.All of those work together as a symphonyto create the perfect sandwich.So we're gonna show you how to makethe ultimate banh mi at home.(upbeat rock music)I've been kind oftinkering with this projectfor two to three years now.Been working with the friends on it,but we've been really trying to developand create the perfect bread,the spread, the pickles, and the pate.We thought those were the key partsto making a perfect banh mi.I've been talking tomy friend Helen Nguyen,Chef of Saigon Social in New York.She's very passionate about banh mi.She's been helping me define perfection.After chatting with her,I'm gonna see how close Ican get to that perfection,making the ultimate banh mi at home.Hey Helen, good to see you again.- Likewise.- Where are you right now?Are you in your car?- Yeah, I'm across thestreet from the restaurant'cause we're in the middle of serviceand I figured it's best to take the callfrom the car across the street.- Yeah, chef life.Oh gosh, do we know that one.So we've talked in the pastabout this banh mi project.I've been kind of tinkeringwith friends during the pandemicwhen we couldn't go out and find breador go out to restaurants.And we've chattedand you've been ableto give some guidance,but I thought,'cause I'm rounding the corner right now,and I would like to getthis on ChefSteps.com,but I want to do right by everybodyand make sure it's authenticand it's a recipe that's great at homeif you don't have access to aVietnamese American communitywhere those ingredientsand the quality banh mi is available.- Absolutely.Especially here in New Yorktrying to taste that sameconsistency, texture,and experience like you do in Vietnam,and also like with the placesthat we're very familiarwith on the West Coast.It's very hard to findsomething like that here.- So where we left off last time,I just wanna make sureI haven't deviated from whatperfection is with the bread.Could you talk about the crustand the interior texture?- So the crust should be thin, crisp,and very delicate, right?So basically if you were to give itlike a really gentle squeeze,you can hear the crackling sound.And then in terms of inside,it shouldn't be too dense.It should have a nice bouncy texture.I like to think of it likea Haagen-Dazs ice cream bar.You have that chocolate coatingand then the vanilla ice cream inside.When you take a bite into it,it's very delicate and itjust basically falls apart.That's kind of like the texturethat you would wanna see in a banh mi.- So like the spreads,I know there's so manydifferent variationsof banh mi out there,but is there typical condimentsthat you might find acrossthe board or most common?- I think the non-negotiablesare the mayonnaiseand the pate.Pork liver, sometimespeople use chicken liver.But in terms of taste,I think the way to go is really just porkbecause it just hitsdifferently, you know?- Can we talk about the meats?- So many different variations.I think that the mostcommon one is the cha lua,which is kind of like the ham,and then there's head cheese.So there's a lot of differentvariations of head cheese.Some people will just usethe whole head of the pig,some will just use ears,some will just use pork bellymixed with wood ear mushrooms.For the xiu mai,it's usually a mixture of ground pork.I know growing up,my family used to make it with jicama.Sometimes, I don't have jicama,so then I would substitute it for daikon.Because it's so delicate and so tender,you just use it kindof as a spread, right?So you pick it up as a balland the minute like it hits the breadand you just apply alittle bit of pressureand it starts breaking apart.And then you can use it as a spread,but the whole point of having a banh miis just like the differentlayers of like the mayo,like the pickles, the pate.And if you omit all of that,then it's just really ameatball sandwich without,you know.I mean, it's still really good.But I think with the xiu mai,it's very important to be ableto taste all the other condimentsthat kind of kind of comealong with it as well.- Awesome, okay.Like when you say pickle,is there a certain variationthat you're most commonly referring to?Is that the daikon and carrot?- It's usually just thedaikon and the carrots.They have to have like thatnice acidic sour punch,but then also still be sweet and tangy.And it has to be crisp.So you don't wanna cut it too thin.You want it to be thick so thatwhen you're biting into it,you can not only taste it,but you could also hear itas you're biting into it.- Do you find other herbs as well?Like maybe mint or types of basil?- I think that the mint and the basil,they both are very strongand very distinct in flavor.It's usually just the cilantro.There might be differentvariations in terms of chili'cause obviously in Vietnam,we don't use jalapeno.In any kind of sauces that we make,the jalapeno is almost never present.It's a different variation of chilies.- Okay.Well, I'm gonna take that challengeand see if I can incorporatethe pork pate with it,the mayo, the pickles, the cucumber,the jalapeno with just likeperfectly steamed xiu mai.And let me give that atry and let's connect backand I'll let you knowwhere I landed with it.- Great, I'm looking forward to it.(upbeat jazz music)- All right, to kick off this bread,we're gonna start off with the first step,which is the autolyse.The process can takeanywhere from 30 minutesto maybe four hours.What's happening is theenzymes in the flour,when combined with water,are gonna start to alterthe proteins in the starch.The starch is gonna beginto convert to sugar.So when you add the yeast,that's gonna give more food,which is gonna boost thefermentation process.In the stand mixer bowl,we're gonna add our water, room temp,add our yeast, our sugar.Give this a little mix.Add our flour.You wanna use a flour that'saround 12 to 14% protein.So this is gonna be a short mixfor about one to two minutes.What you're doing isyou're just gonna want it tocome together as a shaggy massand then we're gonna set it aside covered.All right, there you have it.It's about one to twominutes, a shaggy mass.We're gonna cover this upand let it sit for aminimum of 30 minutes.(upbeat jazz music)So we're gonna be doingequal parts daikon radish to carrots.So the daikon,though it's gonna have that crunch,it's gonna be slightly funky,a tiny bit bitter yet a little bit sweet,where the carrot is gonnabe very crunchy, very sweet.So the next part of the processis salting the vegetables.And so once we give 'em a good mix,we'll transfer 'em to the fridgefor about 30 minutes or so.While the vegetables are in the fridge,let's get together our brine.The vinegar I like to use is distilled.We're gonna add sugar,a little bit of water.We're gonna add a little bit more saltand just give it a little whisk.Check this out.Look at how much moisture came out.We're gonna strain that away.Give it a quick rinse, pat it dry,and then submerge it in our brine.(upbeat jazz music)Now, we're gonna finish mixing the dough.It's been 30 minutesafter our autolyse step.Salt, butter.It's gonna help make it more tender.Our last ingredient is ascorbic acid.This is gonna supportthe gluten development.So this is a cost effective wayof making large loafs of bread faster.We're gonna mix this fora total of six minutes.Every two minutes,we're gonna scrape downthe sides so that wayall the ingredients we justadded are evenly incorporated.Look at that.It's already starting to get shiny.The butter's been incorporated.So if you skip the autolyse step,normally the mixing willtake about 15 minutes.So even though you're losing30 minutes at the beginning,the mixing is fasterand a little bit easier.I like to just give ita little bit of a fold.I just wanna make sureit's evenly incorporated.Another two minutes.It's getting shinier.It's very smooth, elastic.We'll call it more like tacky.It shouldn't be very sticky.Last two minutes.All right, so it's been atotal of six minutes of mixing.Look at that beautiful dough.So it's shiny, it's very elastic, smooth.Smooth is the most important qualitythat you're looking for.All right, so we'regonna transfer the doughto a smooth working surface using a knife,a bench scraper.Gonna cut.Eyeball the first one.Let's see.So to prevent a skin from developing,we're gonna keep thesecovered as we portion.So one thing to note isbe a little bit thoughtfulof when you're adding more doughto get to your target weight.Put it in one spot of the dough.Reason being is when we go to shape,this is gonna be our top side of the ballthat you'll see in a second.I included an extra portion in this recipebecause it's probably a newtechnique for a lot of you.That way, you have anextra one to practice with.So if you mess one up duringthe formation later on,just swap out your worst lookingone for your favorite one.So, this is fun.This is my favorite partis presentation side facing forward.We're gonna make kind of a circlewith our middle finger and our thumb.And using our thumb, index finger,you're gonna push it through.A nice taut surface to the ball.This is the same techniqueused for dinner rolls.It's a technique usedvery commonly in baking.Okay, so you have a pinched bottom.So we're gonna take theugly end, slap it down.Pinky on one side, thumb on the other,we're gonna do a rollingmotion going in a circle.This technique mightnot come natural to you.An easier way to learn themotions is pinky on one side,we're gonna push it to the left.We're gonna make a square.So we're gonna use ourmiddle finger, pull it down,right, up, left, down, right, up.This is a really commontechnique all throughout bakingand this is how you make dinner rolls.There you have it.We have seven portions all balled up.They're spaced out on a greased trayabout two inches or sobecause they're gonna relaxduring the first proofing processand it's gonna closely double in size.So we're gonna be proofingat room temperature,68 to 72 degrees Fahrenheit covered.It's probably gonna take about an hour.So depending on how cold your room is.If it's colder than that,it might take about 90 minutes.But the key visual we're looking foris for it to double in size.(upbeat rock music)So while we're proofing the bread,we're gonna jump into makingthat xiu mai, meatballs.Specifically, these aregonna be pork meatballsso packed full of flavor withdaikon radish, green onions,a little fish sauce, garlic,and we're even using cornstarch as the binder for 'em.They're tender, they're super flavorful.It's kind of a quick alternativeto going through all the workto make like head cheese or ham.It's kinda like this easy middle ground,but super flavorful and very rewarding.So let's jump into it.First up is gonna be mincing scallions.So I like to split 'em lengthwise.Add the scallions to our mixing bowl.All right, next up, garlic.So this is gonna add a really nicekind of allium funk to the meatballs.Next up, cilantro.I love the stems 'cause itstill is packed with flavorand there's amazing texture.Next up, daikon.I love the texture, the flavor of it,as well as with all thewater that's in here,it's a wonderful tenderizerso you don't need to add egg.Well, we're gonna mix up our base,everything except for the pork.We got white pepper and black pepper.Brings a little bit ofheat, personality to it.Got a little bit of sugarfor a little bit of added sweetness.Salt, fish sauce.I like to add Praguepowder and corn starch.It's gonna retain flavor, moisture,and it's gonna bind it together.So we have our base in here.We're gonna mix this up first.It helps make sure all the ingredientsare evenly incorporatedbefore you add the pork.So we're gonna roll up oursleeves and mix this up.One key visual I go to toknow it's evenly distributedis kind of the greens from thescallion or cilantro stems.If they're evenly distributed throughout,that's a telltale sign you're done mixing.So what we're gonna do iswe're gonna portion it all outon a grease tray.Now, all we need to do is form them.What I like to do isdip my fingers in water.That helps 'em to not stick.You can also use non-stickcooking spray if you want.I like to give 'em a little squeeze first.Then in the palms of your hand,gently roll 'em into a ball.So what we're gonna do istransfer these to the fridgeto rest for a minimum of 30 minutes.Then, we're gonna steam 'em off laterjust before we serve the banh mi.(upbeat rock music)Okay, now we're gonna shape and roll.So our bread has beenproofing at room temperaturefor about 60 minutes or so.Look at that.It's doubled in size.So to get our station ready,again, we're gonna be using the stone.It's gonna be lightly greased.We got a ruler just tomeasure out our dimensions.We got our baguette pan right here.They're perforated.That helps with airflow and circulationso you get nice toasty crust on all sides.All right, gently takeit out one at a time.Keep your balls covered soyou don't develop a skin.This is a shaping techniquethat's a riff on Batard,Batard shaping method commonlyused for French baguettes.A couple folds,gets it into a niceround cylinder of sorts.So this is a method that's great for smallor large batch productionswhere it's very fast,it's easy.It also degases the doughso you get nice tight crumb structureand a little bit of a spiralthat makes it easy totake out some of the breadto fill up your banh mi lateron with even more goodies.Pulling it here,we're gotta slap it down, pull it,so we're gonna anchor the base.You're looking for a long triangleand pull it out about 14 inches.Okay, with a rolling pin,you don't need much pressure.Just let the rollingpin do the work for you.Roll it towards the baseand shape it back up.Starting off with twofingers, just gonna roll,push, roll, push.Again, it's all abouthaving a nice taut surface.And as you work down,it's gonna get wider.So you're gonna incorporate more fingers.So you're not gonna wanna actually pushin the middle of the roll,just the sides.We're shaping the roll.So you get to the very end, pinch it down.Okay, so now we have a seam.We're gonna pinch that together.That way, it doesn't unravelduring the final proofing processor during the bake.Okay, so we have the seam pinched.We're gonna roll it up.So, gently on the sides using your palm,roll it towards you.Roll it towards you.So we're going for aboutsix inches in length.Pretty much there.So we're gonna transfer thisto the pan seam side down.Let's keep going.Okay, nice smooth surface to 'em,six inches in length,inch and a half betweenthe rolls themselvesand about an inch fromthe edge of the pan.If they're not perfectlysmooth on top, that's okay.Those imperfections aregonna fix themselvesas it doubles in size.So again, keep thesecovered about one hour.(upbeat rock music)So with a little bit of downtime,might as well get ahead.This is a great opportunityto start prepping the fresh herbs and veg.So the herbs that we have here,cilantro, mint, and basil,Thai basil as an option.Again, in my opinion,I think there's no sensein just picking out individual leaves.A little bit of stem,it's gonna add more flavor, more texture.All right, let's add some mint.I do not like mint stems.Too woody for me.So next up, the jalapeno.The chili is gonna bring heatand it's gonna bring textureand a very fresh flavor that'sgonna accompany the mint,the cilantro, and thecucumber really well.I like English cucumber becauseyou can leave the skin on.It's a great texture,great flavor, very crisp.So now, let's transfer the cucumberto our paper towel lined tray.That's gonna wick up anymoisture that begins to pool.(upbeat rock music)And also we have oursuper umami packed mayo.Last but not least, the pork liver patehas just finished cooking sousvide at a low temperature.Love doing that because itreduces the risk of overcooking.We're gonna allow this torest in room temperaturefor about five to 10 minutes.Then we're gonna transferto the fridge to fully cool.(upbeat rock music)All right, so we have a preformed xiu mai.Now, it's time to steam them.So we're gonna divideall the xiu mai evenlybetween two trayswith roughly one inchspacing between them.So it's been about 12 minutes.Let's check and see if they're ready.Wicked tender, ready to be served.(upbeat rock music)So we just finished with our final proof.Let's check it out.So they've doubled insize in about 60 minutes,proofing at room temperature.They've completely filledup the baguette pan.The next step is we're gonnascore them before we bake it.That's gonna help withoven spring, more rise.But scoring with a lamecan be a little bit tricky.So because they're lightly humid,as you notice they'rekind of shiny right now,what we're gonna do is we'regonna pop it in the fridgeuncovered for 10 minutes.That's gonna firm up the exteriorand dry it out ever so slightlythat when we go to run therazor blade across the top,it won't snag quite as much.So here we go.Now that our oven is preheated to 450,we're ready to go in with the bread.What's really important thoughis the very bottom rack,we're gonna have a sheetpan filled with water.That's gonna create avery humid environment.That humid environment is gonnahelp with the oven spring.All right, so now we'vepar-chilled our rolls.You'll notice the surfaceof it nice and firm.It's dry, it's matte in color.It's not shiny and wet anymore.Now, it's time to score.You're gonna be running alongthe top at a 45 degree angle,cutting in about a quarterinch to a half inch or so.So now, we're gonna spray 'em really good.That's gonna help with the oven springand the humid environment of the oven.So the first half of thebake is all about humidity.That humidity is gonnahelp us get oven springwhere it's gonna doublein size during the bakeso it's gonna get even bigger.So what we do is on the bottom rack,we have a tray filled with water,introducing steam.We're gonna give it a littlequick spray in the ovento add even more humidity.We're gonna quickly seal it up.Every two minutes for thefirst six minutes of the bake,you're gonna be opening the doorand giving it a quick sprayto rehydrate the surface of the rolls.So the bread has finished baking,but for the very last minute or two,what I like to do is flip over the rollsto help with a little bitmore browning on the bottom.That way, we have an evencrust all the way around.So they've already hit their target temp,so this last part of thebake should be very quick.So it's been one minutewith the bread flipped overto help develop crust on the bottom.Let's check it out.Nice and golden.All right, cool.So we have a nice crust formedon the bottom, even color.Just as even nice browncrust that's formed.Nice and crispy.These are looking great.(upbeat rock music)Now that we have our bread,let's build a sandwich.All right, you've gotta be honest with me.Tell me how I did.The most important part, the bread.- It's so cute.- I know, but.(crunching)- Ooh!- Can you hear that?- Oh man, yes. (laughing)It's a sexy banh mi.- It feels the part pretty well.- That's beautiful.The color's beautiful.- Awesome.- Oh, that crunch.- Does that seem right?- Yes.And you know what? The crust is very thin.That little pressure that you apply.Can you do that again?(crunching)Yes.- It kind of explodes.- Yeah. (laughing)It's so exciting.- All right.Let's look at that inthe form of a sandwich.What I did here, Ibroke some rules, Helen.Broke some rules.So we do have the porkliver pate in the bottom,jalapenos.This was the xiu mai.This was just steamed.I ended up using the daikon in there.I like that recommendation.Last rule I broke was Iadded a little mint in there.It seems like a preference thing, but-- But you know what?if you love it,you enjoy it and ittastes good, then why not?- Kinda like a rollercoasterwhere it's like you get these rich flavorsand you get the heat,but then you get the vinegarand then the herbs thatcleanse your palateand you kind of just wanna getback on that rollercoaster.- And it comes and goes.It goes in little waves, the heat, right?Just when you cool down,you bite it into it againand it takes you back.- Yeah. (laughing)I'm gonna cut it open,see what we're working with.All right.- That's beautiful.Look at those cucumbers.- All right, can yougive me a score, Helen?What do you think?- I'm gonna give it a nine.You know what I really like to see isthat you'd like to see like that layerof pate and mayo reallyjust kind of over pouring,whether if it's not in the centerwhen you're cutting it out,but at the very least at the end.You need to have it just overflowingon one end or the other.I think that it needs to be very generousin terms of the amountthat you like reallylather into that sandwich.- All right, I respect that.I'm gonna load this upwith as much as I can.Thank you so much, Helen.I hope to see you soon.Better let you get backto your restaurant shift.Good to see you, take care.Appreciate you.- Thank you.(upbeat rock music)- So you don't wanna slice allthe way through your bread.You wanna slice just to the back of itwhere there's a hingestill keeping it together.What I like to do is removea little bit of the breadfrom the top.This is gonna help create a balanced ratioof filling to bread.First layer, pork liver pate.As Helen said, load it up more.I wanna see it come out thesides when you squeeze it.Next up, we're gonna add our meat.So we got our smashed up xiu mai.We're just gonna load this up.Now, we're gonna do the jalapenos,fresh crunch.Okay, pop in our fresh cucumbers,add our pickles.While we're here, we're gonnaadd our other creamy layer.Again, we're gonna load itup just like we did the pate.All right, a couple dashesof Maggi and our fresh herbs.So I broke the rules,added a little bit of mint,but I like it with mint.Just make sure you have some cilantro.Check it out.So we got our thin, crispy crust,about a centimeter of bread on all sides.We have our mayo andour pate on the bottomthat are oozing out.We got our pickles,herbs, jalapeno, cucumber,and xiu mai in every single bite.So Helen gave me her opinionon it visually over zoom,but you gotta try it.So let's have Sasha Marx heregive a taste test tosee if I hit the marksthat Helen and I were going for.Definitely pushed the pate.- Going up on the pate, I love it.Like it seems like such a minor thing,but the like cut on thecucumber to me is like perfectof just like you reallyget the crunch of itand it's like it's there.It's not sort of this after thought.The eggshell thinness ofthe crust here is so nice.- Awesome.- No notes.I got no notes.It's delicious.I want a whole one of these.Helen, he did a great job, I swear.- Helen, it's the perfect sandwich.It has everything you want.It's fresh, it's spicy,it's acidic and sweet from the pickles,it's super creamy.Tons of umami.Springy, tender texture from the meatballswith lots of fresh herbs.The bread is delivering,the filling is delivering.This is the perfect sandwich, the banh mi.- Subscribe to our channeland visit ChefSteps.com formore tips, recipes, guides,and tools to help youlevel up in the kitchen.(bubbles popping)(upbeat percussive music)\n"