Bhan Mi Pork Seasoning
Ingredients
500g pork fillet cut into 4 pieces
1 shallot chopped finely
3 cloves of grated garlic
1/2 chilli chopped finely
1 1/2 tablespoons fish sauce
3 tablespoons maggi seasoning sauce
1 tablespoon chinese 5 spice
Instructions
Mix all of the above in a bowl and and pour onto the pork fillet pieces then leave to marinade for a few hours or overnight in the fridge, turning occasionally and spooning the seasoning on top to make sure the meat absorbes all of the flavour on both sides. The longer the better.
Warm the oven up and place on around 180C, once warm place the pork fillet pieces topped with the majority of the chopped chopped pieces of garlick, chilli and shallot that’s been used to marinade it in the oven for around 25 minutes depending on your oven but make sure it’s cooked through. Leave it to rest for 15 minutes then carve into thin slithers.
Carrot and daikon pickles
Ingredients
Pre salting
2 carrots julienned
1/2 daikon julienned (Also known as Mooli as I found out trying to hunt it down in Cardiff and found it named Mooli in Cardiff market opposite the spice stall)
2 teaspoons sea salt
2 teaspons of granulated sugar
post salting
3 teaspoons sea salt
6 teaspoons granulated sugar
125ml warm water
125ml distilled white vinegar or rice wine vinegar
Instructions
Julienne the carrots and daikon and place into a deep bowl. I use a potato peeler style juilienne handle I picked up from TK Maxx but i’ve seen them in a lot of kitchen shops for around £5 and it’s my favourite gadgets in the kitchen for making salads and slaws.
Add the salt and sugar from the pre salting ingredients above and mix in with your hands for around 30 seconds then leave for another 3 minutes for the water to leach out. Squeeze the carrot and daikon mixture to release any excess liquid then run cold water into the bowl giving a squeeze and emptying a few times to get rid of the salt mixture.
Dissolve the salt and sugar from the post salting ingredients list in the warm water and when fully dissolved add the vinegar to the mix.
I had two sterilised medium sized mason jars with a clasp and filled each one with an equal mix of the carrot and daikon but use one larger one if you have it. Top with the vinegar solution so that the vegetables are fully submerged. I topped it up with a tiny bit of water as there was just a few straws of veg poking above the mixture then put in the fridge to pickle. Some recipes i’ve seen said you can use them after a quick pickle of 30 minutes but I opted to do them and leave overnight in the fridge.
Bahn Mi Topping
Ingredients
1 packet of pate, I opted for brussels or you could use a chunky Ardennes
hoi sin sauce
mayonnaise
Sriracha sauce (I already had a bottle of Sriracha May in the fridge so just used that instead of mixing both myself)
Jalapenos
Cucumber cut into battons
Small handfull of chopped corriander
1 crispy baguette type bread (Arguably this is seen as the most important item of the dish and to make it authentic the Vietnamese use a crusty french style bread but they don’t have any vietnamese bakeries in Cardiff so i’ve had to opt for a salt and pepper baguette from tesco as i love the pepperiness)
Instructions
Cut chunk of bread to your liking depending how hungry you are and whether you’re sharing or not. Slather a wedge of pate on the bottom of the sliced baguette, topp with the cucumber battons then expertly layer the sliced pork to sit on top.
Spread a good dollop of your mayo on the top half of the bread wheather you want to go spicy and add some Sriracha is up to you. I did but Mwsh didn’t want any as she was being a wimp this morning. Sprinkle some chopped corriander so it sticks to the mayo combo then add a little squirt of hoi sin over the pork.
Top the pork with a few slices of jalapenos and a generous helping of the carrot and daikon pickle. You may have to stand on the baguette to shut it and if you’re going to use a knife and fork get the hell off my blog right now! Enjoy at your leisure, just make sure you have a few napkins to wipe your brow and contents off your face and beard. Enjoy with a beer unless you’re sat in front of your PC in work 🙁