Last night's cultural exploration took us to Vietnam. None of us had ever had a Banh Mi Ga Nuong - a Vietnamese Roasted Chicken sandwich. So I made it at home served with a side of pumpkin curry soup.
The sandwich recipe came from a food blog I recently discovered and absolutely love - The Culinary Chronicles. I'm not only a big fan of the eclectic mix of food she creates, but also her beautiful photography.
I had always wondered why the marinade/seasoning to most Vietnamese chicken, pork and beef dishes were distinctive from the soy sauce based marinades for many Japanese and Korean meats. The difference? Using Maggi seasoning with a combination of five spice seasoning. Maggi seasoning is still a very salty sort of sauce like soy sauce....but different in taste I can't exactly put into words.
There was definitely a bit of preparation to the sandwich. I actually made French baguettes from scratch using this recipe. You don't have to of course, but I happened to have a lot of bread flour from the holidays that I need to use up. I julienned a carrot and a daikon radish and then placed them in a pickling solution as described in the recipe. Also made the mayonnaise, thinly sliced cucumbers and chopped cilantro. Marinating the chicken for an hour or two is definitely a must. I used boneless chicken thighs, although the recipe did call for chicken thighs bone-in. The combination of texture and flavor of this simple sandwich was AMAZING. The savory chicken paired well with the pickled veggies, cilantro and cucumber which was then rounded out with the cilantro garlic mayonnaise. The freshly baked French baguette brought it all together to create the most unique sandwich flavors I've experienced. My husband actually composed TWO sandwiches and said I should make it again in the future. Win!
Next Vietnamese dish I have yet to master: Vietnamese Curry.
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