Bánh Mì

Ingredients

• 1 Baguette, cut into 4 lengths and split
• ½ Daikon radish, matchsticks
• 2 Carrots, matchsticks
• ⅜ cup Rice vinegar (unseasoned)
• 3 tbsp Granulated sugar
• 1 tsp Kosher salt
• 1 block Extra-firm tofu, cut into long slabs
• 2 tbsp Low-sodium soy sauce
• 1 tbsp Hoisin sauce
• 2 tbsp Canola oil
• 4 tbsp Olive oil mayonnaise
• 2 tsp Sriracha
• 1 Cucumber, cut into long spears
• 1 cup Cilantro, whole sprigs
• 1 Jalapeño, sliced thin

Method

1. Pickle first: dissolve the sugar and salt in the rice vinegar plus 1/3 cup warm water, pour it over the daikon and carrot, and leave 30 minutes. They will still be crunchy — that is the point. This is đồ chua and it keeps three weeks in the fridge.
2. Marinate the tofu slabs in the soy and hoisin for 10 minutes, then pan-fry in the oil over medium-high, 3 minutes a side, until lacquered.
3. Stir the sriracha into the mayonnaise.
4. Pull some of the soft interior out of the baguette so the sandwich closes. Toast the halves cut side down in a dry pan for a minute.
5. Build: spicy mayonnaise on both sides, tofu, a generous fistful of drained pickles, cucumber spears, whole cilantro sprigs, jalapeño. Press it closed and cut on a hard diagonal.

Notes

✨ The restaurant touch

Whole cilantro sprigs, stems and all. Chopped cilantro disappears; sprigs give you a mouthful of it, which is what the sandwich is for.

🧒 For the kids

Leave the jalapeño and sriracha off. Sweet pickled carrot and lacquered tofu in bread is not a hard sell.

🥡 Leftovers

The pickles keep 3 weeks and improve. Assemble sandwiches to order.

Per serving

Computed from USDA FoodData Central values. A planning tool, not medical advice.