Bomb Banh Mi

One of the most satisfying things to do when you are hungry is to get a huge sandwich that is wrapped in parchment paper, unroll it, lay it out where you are eating, and then take a huge bite. Any kind of street food or fast food comes in some awesome wrapping or sprawled out on some gorgeous paper hot dog tray, and there is no exception to the Vietnamese street food sandwich Banh Mi.

Banh Mi actually refers to the bread that the Banh Mi sandwich is served on, it is a very airy version of a baguette which was brought to Vietnam by the French when the French colonized. They are typically made with a type of pate but we have decided to marry the glory of American grilling with this delicious Vietnamese street food.

Our Banh Mi is a grilled marinated flank steak, accompanied by a five spice pickled slaw of carrot and parsnip, red cabbage, and topped with cilantro.

Ingredients: Makes 3

1 loaf soft baguette
1/2 head red cabbage
1 handful of cilantro

Slaw:
1 large parsnip
2 large carrots
1 Tablespoon Five Spice
½ cup rice wine vinegar

Steak:
1 ½ lbs skirt steak
3 cloves garlic
3 Tablespoons olive oil
2 Tablespoons garlic salt
3 Tablespoons fish sauce

To start off we want you to prep and marinate your meat. Start by laying your meat out and using a sharp knife, cut any excess chunks of fat or silver skin (which is the connective tissue) so that the meat doesn’t become too tough. Next smash up your garlic and in a large bowl marinate your meat in all the meat ingredients, flipping a couple of times to saturate both sides and refrigerate as long as you can, preferably overnight, but hey we don’t all have that kind of planning time, so even 20 minutes is fine.

Next peel and shred the parsnip and carrots. In a small sauce pan boil vinegar and five spice, once boiling remove from heat and add parsnip and carrot and let sit for 10 minutes. Once that is done you can store up to a week with the pickling liquid in a jar.

To cook the steak heat a grill pan at medium high heat, and once at desired temperature place steak on. Let cook on each side for about 6 minutes, depending on how thick your steak is check the inside to test the doneness. Otherwise you just want to get a nice sear on to add a nice crispness. Let steak sit for 10 minutes before you slice.

To assemble the sandwich, cut the baguette into thirds and then down the middle, lay the meat down, then some pickled slaw, then some sliced cabbage, then top with a pinch of cilantro!

Enjoy!