As I've rambled about
before, Bánh Mì is one of my very favorite foods on the planet. I first fell in love in Melbourne when I discovered a AU$3 sandwich called the Vietnamese Pork Roll at the Vietnamese Hot Bread Bakery a block from my apartment. I ordered this sandwich pretty much at random one day, as I realized while walking home from the tram that I was starving to death, and proceeded to have it blow my mind. From that day forward I stopped for one almost every week, and since I left Melbourne I often find myself craving a nice, crusty, pork-y Bánh Mì.
The brilliance of my neighborhood Bánh Mì (pictured above) came from its use of four types of pork: something that looked like Chinese BBQ pork, thin slices of something that looked like a pork terrine, moist and flavorful pork meatballs, and a layer of pâté slathered on the crusty, fresh-baked baguette along with some Kewpie mayo. Pickled carrots and daikon and bright fresh cilantro finished off this near-perfect sandwich. I created a chicken version (which I posted a recipe for
here) that was pretty amazing, but I had yet to attempt a pork version at home... until now. I knew when I saw this recipe in Momofuku that I would need to make it one day... and that day came yesterday...
The Momofuku Bánh Mì recipe starts with two terrines: a chicken liver terrine and a ham terrine. Both are incredibly easy to make, but the ham terrine requires a bit of time to let the curing salt work its magic, making this a good dish for me to work on while on vacation this past week. The chicken liver terrine combines some freshly ground pork shoulder, chicken livers, fish sauce, garlic, shallot, and Chinese five spice powder.
The livers are puréed with the garlic and shallots, then everything is gently combined.
I poured the mixture into a loaf pan lined with nonstick parchment...
... and baked until the desired internal temperature (145°F) was reached.
That went into the fridge to set up, and I got to work on the ham terrine. Two days earlier, I had tossed my 1-inch dice of fresh pork shoulder with some curing salt. When terrine-making time came, I combined this with garlic, bay leaves, cinnamon, star anise, and a bit of kosher salt...
... then covered all that with water, brought to a simmer, and braised for a couple hours in a low oven until the meat was extremely tender.
The pork (which now looks a lot like ham, thanks to the curing salt) is pulled out...
... and fat is separated from meat. The fat goes into a food processor along with the garlic from the braising mixture, while the meat is left in relatively large chunks.
The fat and garlic are puréed until smooth, and are then ready to be combined with the meat.
Chang suggests dipping each individual piece of meat into the fat mixture before gently arranging it in the terrine mold, but I went with the alternative option, which was to just toss the meat and fat together gently to combine before dumping into the lined terrine dish.
The terrine needs to be weighted down overnight, so I used my other terrine-filled dish as the weight, wrapped everything up, and threw it in the fridge.
The next morning I had two awesome terrines, both of which Chang says freeze really well (so it's OK that the recipes make enough for more than 12 sandwiches...).
The last few ingredients to prep were the quick-and-easy vinegar pickles (he mentions carrot and daikon, but his picture shows cucumber, too, so I made those as well...),
and the much-less-quick homemade baguette. My mom used the recipe from The Bread Bible and spent almost a whole day making the baguette from scratch, and it turned out perfect. The interior was soft while the crust was super-crunchy and awesome. You just can't get that crusty goodness at the grocery store.
At this point, things are ready to assemble. Chang says to start with some Kewpie mayonnaise on both sides of your the sliced-open piece of baguette.
Next up is a schmear of the chicken liver terrine...
... followed by a couple thin slices of the ham terrine.
This goes into a moderate oven for a few minutes to heat everything up, then the sandwich is finished with the pickled carrots, daikon, and cucumber, a handful of cilantro, and (if you're me) some thinly sliced red chilies...
This was pretty fantastic. I think I would tone down the five spice powder in the chicken liver terrine next time, but other than that this was spot-on. I loved the ham terrine, and the whole combination of flavors brought me back to happy days in Melbourne. I'm quite pleased that I'll have these terrines in the freezer to make an emergency Bánh Mì when I get a craving. Now I just need to track down a place that sells baguettes that are as good as homemade. Yet another success from the Momofuku cookbook. It's almost as if David Chang really knows his food... I already have my eye on another of his recipes for next weekend...
As I've rambled about before, Bánh Mì is one of my very favorite foods on the planet. I first fell in love in Melbourne when I discovered a AU$3 sandwich called the Vietnamese Pork Roll at the Vietnamese Hot Bread Bakery a block from my apartment. I ordered this sandwich pretty much at random one day, as I realized while walking home from the tram that I was starving to death, and proceeded to have it blow my mind. From that day forward I stopped for one almost every week, and since I left Melbourne I often find myself craving a nice, crusty, pork-y Bánh Mì. 
The brilliance of my neighborhood Bánh Mì (pictured above) came from its use of four types of pork: something that looked like Chinese BBQ pork, thin slices of something that looked like a pork terrine, moist and flavorful pork meatballs, and a layer of pâté slathered on the crusty, fresh-baked baguette along with some Kewpie mayo. Pickled carrots and daikon and bright fresh cilantro finished off this near-perfect sandwich. I created a chicken version (which I posted a recipe for here) that was pretty amazing, but I had yet to attempt a pork version at home... until now. I knew when I saw this recipe in Momofuku that I would need to make it one day... and that day came yesterday...
The Momofuku Bánh Mì recipe starts with two terrines: a chicken liver terrine and a ham terrine. Both are incredibly easy to make, but the ham terrine requires a bit of time to let the curing salt work its magic, making this a good dish for me to work on while on vacation this past week. The chicken liver terrine combines some freshly ground pork shoulder, chicken livers, fish sauce, garlic, shallot, and Chinese five spice powder.
The livers are puréed with the garlic and shallots, then everything is gently combined.
I poured the mixture into a loaf pan lined with nonstick parchment...
... and baked until the desired internal temperature (145°F) was reached.
That went into the fridge to set up, and I got to work on the ham terrine. Two days earlier, I had tossed my 1-inch dice of fresh pork shoulder with some curing salt. When terrine-making time came, I combined this with garlic, bay leaves, cinnamon, star anise, and a bit of kosher salt...
... then covered all that with water, brought to a simmer, and braised for a couple hours in a low oven until the meat was extremely tender.
The pork (which now looks a lot like ham, thanks to the curing salt) is pulled out...
... and fat is separated from meat. The fat goes into a food processor along with the garlic from the braising mixture, while the meat is left in relatively large chunks.
The fat and garlic are puréed until smooth, and are then ready to be combined with the meat.
Chang suggests dipping each individual piece of meat into the fat mixture before gently arranging it in the terrine mold, but I went with the alternative option, which was to just toss the meat and fat together gently to combine before dumping into the lined terrine dish.
The terrine needs to be weighted down overnight, so I used my other terrine-filled dish as the weight, wrapped everything up, and threw it in the fridge.
The next morning I had two awesome terrines, both of which Chang says freeze really well (so it's OK that the recipes make enough for more than 12 sandwiches...).
The last few ingredients to prep were the quick-and-easy vinegar pickles (he mentions carrot and daikon, but his picture shows cucumber, too, so I made those as well...),
and the much-less-quick homemade baguette. My mom used the recipe from The Bread Bible and spent almost a whole day making the baguette from scratch, and it turned out perfect. The interior was soft while the crust was super-crunchy and awesome. You just can't get that crusty goodness at the grocery store.
At this point, things are ready to assemble. Chang says to start with some Kewpie mayonnaise on both sides of your the sliced-open piece of baguette.
Next up is a schmear of the chicken liver terrine...
... followed by a couple thin slices of the ham terrine.
This goes into a moderate oven for a few minutes to heat everything up, then the sandwich is finished with the pickled carrots, daikon, and cucumber, a handful of cilantro, and (if you're me) some thinly sliced red chilies...
2 comments:
I'm all about the Banh Mi. Of course I only know it from 50 cent food stalls. I have a feeling this one might blow my previous experiences out of the water.
Clearly you will have to come visit me so we can find out. =)
Post a Comment