**The Art of Making Your Own Bunny Sandwich**

When it comes to making a great bunny sandwich, also known as bun me, there are several key elements that come together to create a truly delicious and satisfying experience. In this article, we'll explore each component of the perfect bun me, from the ingredients to the technique.

**Breaking Down the Ingredients**

One of the most important things about making your own bun me is using high-quality ingredients. For example, you can't go wrong with fresh cucumber slices, which provide a refreshing crunch and cooling flavor. Similarly, plenty of cilantro adds a burst of freshness and fragrance to each bite. And speaking of herbs, be sure to use only the freshest sprigs - there's nothing worse than biting into a whole sprig of cilantro that's been left intact, with all its leaves and stems still attached. To avoid this problem, break up your cilantro into smaller pieces before adding it to your sandwich.

**The Meat: A Matter of Personal Preference**

When it comes to the meat component of your bun me, you have several options. For a classic Vietnamese-style cold cut, look for something like "mooyah" or "muay khao" - thinly sliced pork that's usually wrapped in plastic and served with a few other toppings. If you're feeling adventurous, try adding some grilled pork to the mix as well - just be sure to slice it thinly so it doesn't overpower the other flavors.

**Spreads: The Secret to a Great Bun Me**

For our author, there's no substitute for good old-fashioned pate - whether it's made from pork or chicken liver. But if you're feeling spicy, don't be afraid to add a dash of sriracha to give your sandwich an extra kick. And when it comes to bread, ditch the baguette in favor of something with a thinner crust and softer interior - this will help prevent the filling from getting lost.

**The Bread: A Matter of Texture**

Now that we've covered the ingredients, let's talk about the bread itself. While many people swear by the traditional European-style baguette, there are better options out there for bun me. Look for something with a thin, crisp crust and a fluffy soft interior - this will provide the perfect balance of texture to your sandwich.

**Assembling Your Masterpiece**

The final step is, of course, assembling your bun me. And what a thrill it is! With each component carefully placed, you'll be rewarded with a symphony of flavors and textures that's sure to delight even the most discerning palate. From the crunch of the cucumber to the creaminess of the pate, every bite is a joy.

**Tips from a Pro**

As someone who's made their fair share of bun me sandwiches, our author has a few tips to pass on. First and foremost: don't be afraid to get creative! Try adding different toppings or ingredients to see what works best for you. And if you're feeling extra adventurous, invite some friends over and make your own sandwiches together - it's a great way to share the fun of cooking with others.

**The Recipe**

If you want to try making your own bun me sandwich at home, our author has a recipe that's sure to impress. With just a few simple ingredients and some basic cooking techniques, you'll be serving up delicious, restaurant-quality sandwiches in no time. And as always, don't forget to share your creations with us on social media - we love seeing what you're working with!

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enhey everyone welcome to Pai's kitchen now if you've been following the show you'll know that I've been  making dishes from several Asian countries I've done the Philippines Indonesia Japan and I've  been really wanting to do Vietnam so today I am going to make a Vietnamese banh mi sandwich which  is one of my all-time favorite Vietnamese dishes ever now in North America the bun mission which  is becoming increasingly popular and I can get it just about anywhere in Vancouver but every time I  get it from a store I'm always wishing you know there was more of this and less of that I know I  wish she didn't do this and so I thought you know what I'll just make it myself and make it exactly  how I want it and it's also really fun easy things to do in fact it's a great party idea to have like  a make your own banh mi sandwich idea brilliant so I'm super excited let's get started when it  comes to making a banh mi sandwich you can make it as hard or as easy on yourself as you want  depending on how many things you want to make from scratch right so today I'm going to make  two things from scratch and that is a carrot and daikon pickle which is essential in the sandwich  and the other one is a grilled lemongrass pork tenderloin which is my own recipe so let's start  with the pickle so I've got here some carrots and daikon that I've cut into tzer's batons sometimes  daikon can be quite bitter if you peel off the first layer you notice that it turns white but  if you keep going if you keep peeling it again and again and again you notice that the color  starts to darken and turn a little bit translucent instead of very paper white I find that when you  get to that place it's less bitter because the bitterness seems to be concentrated around the  outside so first what I'm going to do is sort of massage the liquid out of the carrot and daikon  I'm going to add some salt a little bit of sugar and the salt and sugar has this property that  draws liquid out of whatever food you put it on now massage the salt in the sugar until you no  longer feel any grittiness now you don't have to do this but it allows the pickle to be ready so  much faster so I'm going to stop and I'm going to let this it so while that's sitting let's  make the pickling liquid so I've got here's some water and to this I'm going to add equal  parts vinegar or maybe that was vinegar and this was water I'm not sure but doesn't matter so now  I'm going to add just a little bit of salt and some sugar now it's up to you whether you want  to make this a sweeter pickle and add more sugar now I'm going to stir this until it's completely  dissolved all right so that's done now let's take a look at the carrot and daikon oh it hasn't sit  very long but as you can see there's already quite a lot of liquid that comes out okay and  now I'm going to rinse this because this has got too much salt too much sugar right now so just  cold water now because we've gotten rid of some water inside the vegetables the vegetables will  absorb the pickling liquid a lot faster so next I'm going to make my grilled lemongrass pork now  you can put whatever kind of meat you want in your sandwich you don't have to do this recipe  but I just wanted to share this as a something that you can do if you don't have any other ideas  that it happens to be delicious so I'm going to go in first with some garlic and I just want to  show you a trick sometimes I just throw it in with all the skin and then I just smash it until they  break and then the skin comes off easily Evora so just pound that until it's sort of fine okay so  once are no more big chunks I'm going to add my white pepper and the white pepper will create a  bit of friction and it'll help the garlic become finer so once it's sort of a fine paste you can  add the lemongrass which I have chopped and pound that down into a paste mmm by the way this is the  bottom of the lemongrass only I don't use the top half really for cooking because there's not a lot  of flavor in there so once the lemongrass is all broken up like that I'm gonna go in with all my  seasonings so I've got some oyster sauce going in I've got some fish sauce see Vietnamese and  Thai people share the love of fish sauce yay fish sauce and I'm also going to add a little bit of  oil it'll help protect the pork when we grill it so it will dry out as easily some honey for some  sweetness and there's something about honey and pork on the barbecue just goes so well together  and then this is completely optional but if you want to get a nice dark color in there you can add  a little bit of black soy sauce or dark soy sauce just for color if you want you don't have to this  is five-spice powder and I have a video that shows you how you can make your own five-spice powder  but you can also just buy it it actually works quite well in this recipe but you don't have to  the hooks so good mmm mmm all right so here's my pork tenderloin that I have removed the silver  skin which is chewy and then I cut it in half horizontally so the marinade penetrates better  and also with cooks faster and I'm going to pour the marinade all over the pork and then just make  sure it's all well covered and you want to let this marinate for at least two hours so you can do  this a day in advance even better and whenever I marinade half way through I get a chance I always  Commons would flip things around to redistribute everything so you can either cook this outside  on the barbecue or what I do is I bro it in the oven on the top rack and to both sides are nice  and golden brown and even a little bit charred for that extra smokiness time to assemble the sandwich  now when it comes to fund me there are no rules about what must or must not go into the sandwich  I mean after all it's a sandwich so what I'm gonna make today is a classic version that's available  in pretty much every bunny restaurant in North America and by the way I'd love to know what you  like in your bun me especially if you're from Vietnam there's something different there we'd  love to know about it let me know in the comments okay so what I have here is some cucumber which  i think is really important some cilantro lots and lots of it one thing about cilantro this is  my biggest pet peeve when I get a bun me is when they put the whole sprig of cilantro in and then  you bite into it you pull in like a whole sprig of cilantro follows you out so I like to break it up  into smaller pieces so that you know I don't have that problem this is why I like to make it myself  this is the pork that I made earlier and as you notice the pork is a little bit pink in the middle  and that's how I like especially tenderloin is so lean if you do it completely well-done it can be  a bit dry this next one is a classic Vietnamese cold cut in Vietnamese I think it's called in  Thai we called mooyah we use it quite a lot too in Thailand and it comes usually wrapped in plastic  now sometimes it also comes wrapped in banana leaf but inside they're more or less the same and if  you don't want to make the pork the grilled pork you can just put this in as your only filling then  it's a lot easier for you right you don't have to make it all right spreads now when we're talking  about spreads my absolute favorite thing in upon me is pate so this is a pork pate which I prefer  but you can also do chicken liver pate which tends to be softer and has a milder flavor when it comes  to spicy most Vietnamese restaurants are going to offer you how to pin yo fresh jalapeno as  an option I actually prefer putting a little bit of sriracha because I feel the spiciness is more  evenly distributed and I'm a you know stickler for things being evenly distributed in a sandwich  all right the bread now most people are going to say use a baguette for a bunny sandwich which is  true however not all baguettes are good for bun me especially the european-style ones that have  a very thick crust which then is harder for you to bite through and then it scratches the roof  of your mouth which is my biggest pet peeve when it comes to sandwiches sandwiches should not hurt  so I suggest looking for bread that has a thin crisp crust and has a fluffy soft interior so the  dough doesn't overwhelm the filling and then you can easily bite through it right so what I do is  I actually buy this bread from your favorite buy me restaurant and it's perfect and you can cut it  up and freeze it and bring it out and heat it up when you're ready to use it okay so let's build itnow that smell is so iconic of upon me I love how it is exactly how I want it this is a great  thing about making your own cooking your own food in general that tarp carrot and daikon  pickle contrasts sort of the creaminess of the pate and heaviness of the meat cucumbers crunchy  and light and that bread this place has good friend oh my goodness so I hope you give this  a try as you can see it's so much fun to put together what a great way to have people over  and make their own sandwiches and the recipe will be on half Thai Kitchen calm and when  you make it send me a photo on Facebook Twitter or Instagram don't forget to subscribe if you  haven't done so so you never miss an episode and also don't forget to let me know what you like  in your bun me sandwich and I will see you next time for your next delicious adventure\n"