"If it's not red, it's not banh mi." - Mom
Yield: 10-20 sandwiches Time: 3 hours
No Viet Deli makes Banh Mi how my mom remembers it: not red enough, not enough pate. Pork belly, lemon grass? What’s that?
At Hong’s House, it’s bright red pork shoulder in a careful percentage of melt-in-your-mouth bits of fat supported by more structural cuts. Ratio is key, ~30/70 fat to nonfat.
Overfill your local bakeries' buns with enough pate to smell before you bite it. Balance it out with heaps of pickled veg and bright cilantro. Good luck closing it.
Her secret:
- Folds
- Low and slow
Tenderly apply salt, garlic, and charsiu seasoning packet in every fold. Wrap it in twine and braise slowly over the day. Soon you’ll have enough fragrant, fatty red meat to fill two tupperware. We recommend sharing with neighbours and (favourite) family members. Don’t let them know you kept the best pieces.
Both the meat and toppings store in containers well. Enjoy sandwiches for a week or two if you freeze some.
Prep it
Red Meat
- 3lbs Pork shoulder — bone in for cheaper larger cuts
- 2 charsiu seasoning packets to taste
- Soy sauce
- 3+ cloves garlic
- Cooking twine
- Salt, Pep
Toppings
- Fresh Buns: Soft baguettes, Italian hoagies etc. — We grab them from a viet sandwich shop (that also sells buns to Other Banh Mi Shops)
- Pate — seafood pate or pork-based pate/liverwurst
- Mayo
- 1 Cucumber thinly sliced longways
- Pickled Carrot + Daikon — Carrots, Daikon, Thai Chillies, Garlic, Vinegar, Sugar
- Cilantro — Don't waste the stems
- Jalapeños (for spicy) or Thai Chillies (for SPICY) thinly sliced
Make it
Red Meat
- Cut out bones — use for soup!
- Season the cut meat with fresh garlic, salt & a pinch of the charsiu season packet. Get inside all the folds, seriously.
- Roll the meat into a cylinder and lock it in with cooking twine.
- Place the roll in a large pot. Add soy sauce, rest of season packet(s), & enough water to come up to about 1/3 - 1/4 the side of the roast.
- Simmer with the lid on, rotating occasionally.
- After 2 hours, take the lid off & position the roll skin side up for another 1 hr (depending on the size of pork). Once it looks tender and red, transfer to a plate to cool.
- Slice the meat into storage containers. Easier when firm.
- Pour leftover juices overtop like you're tucking them into bed.
Pickle Your Veg
Better to do this ahead of time, but you can also do this while your meat is braising. We use this recipe.
Eat it
- Toast buns whole. Just enough to crisp up, then slice to open. — Some people carve out a bit of the inside to get more meat per sandwich.
- Mayo on both sides with lots of pate along the bottom side.
- Bulk up the sandwich with pieces of solid pork shoulder first. Season with magi sauce.
- Along the top, add choice cuts as preferred (i.e. the fatty stuff).
- Heap on pickled veg, cilantro, and spicy bits.
Eat outside
Ask Harmoney for questions
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