In Appreciation of Banh Mi!

[Really Not All That Bright]

So, the office I've worked at for three years is very close to the area of Orlando known as Little Vietnam. It's called that because... it's full of Vietnamese. Well, Vietnamese businesses, anyway - travel agents, jewelers, tailors, and of course, restaurants.

The Boston Bakery & Cafe is, amusingly enough, one of those Vietnamese restaurants, apparently serving nothing but banh mi sandwiches and something called boba tea.

I consider myself something of a connoisseur of the submarine sandwich in all its delicious forms, but I'd never tried banh mi until today.

It was awesome. I got a combination sammich, which in this case was sliced turkey, sliced ham, headcheese, pate, pickled carrots, lettuce, jalapenos, and a white sliced vegetable I didn't recognize.

Seriously, it was terrific. Even the WHOLE UNSLICED JALAPENO I bit into which rendered me a gasping, whimpering mess for a minute or two didn't ruin the experience.

Anyone else fond of these? If so, or if you're Vietnamese, perhaps you can explain what the hell boba tea is. It looked tasty, but I was afraid to try it (and didn't know how to order it).

[Duke]

There's a place on Spadina Avenue in Toronto that sells them. They might still be selling them for $1. A freakin' dollar! How are these sandwiches not the biggest trend around?

[Lightnin']

My company provides subsidized lunches. We get the option of three or four home-cooked meals for about four bucks, so I take advantage of it every day. About once a month or so, we get Banh Mi, and you're right- they're yummy.

[Huerta88]

You are probably experiencing bubble tea, which is tea with tapioca balls in it. I don't care much for it but it's popular in many parts of Asia and in the diaspora.

[Simplicio]

Originally Posted by Really Not All That Bright

Anyone else fond of these? If so, or if you're Vietnamese, perhaps you can explain what the hell boba tea is. It looked tasty, but I was afraid to try it (and didn't know how to order it).

Its the same thing as bubble tea. Its a really sweet tea with tapioca thingys in it. Too sweet for me, even as a dessert, but its pretty popular.

(SE Asians seem to really like sugary beverages, a lot of Vietnamese markets I've been in have this machine where you feed a stalk of raw sugarcane in one end and it gets squeezed to produce a large glass of pure sugarcane juice, which people apparently drink without further adulteration. I took one sip and am pretty sure I gave myself diabetes).

[hogarth]

Originally Posted by Duke

There's a place on Spadina Avenue in Toronto that sells them. They might still be selling them for $1. A freakin' dollar! How are these sandwiches not the biggest trend around?

I think last time I went there, it was $1.50.

Tasty sandwiches, though!

[Really Not All That Bright]

Originally Posted by Duke

There's a place on Spadina Avenue in Toronto that sells them. They might still be selling them for $1. A freakin' dollar! How are these sandwiches not the biggest trend around?

This one was $3 (which is probably equivalent to $1 CAN ), and they didn't even charge me sales tax (or it was included in the price). Still a freakin' bargain. I mean, Subway has been making hay for months selling sandwiches for $5 that are slightly bigger and half as delicious.

[obfusciatrist]

Yes, banh mi done right is very good. But the current explosion in popularity of vietnamese sandwiches (from my San Francisco office building I've got maybe six options within four blocks of me) is resulting in a an Americanization that is distressing.

The rolls are too soft, the vegetables less pickled. The peppers not particularly hot or missing completely. As much as I like this type of sandwich, I haven't yet been to one of the places around work twice.

At least I still have Cam Huong Bakery in Oakland as an excellent source.

[pulykamell]

Originally Posted by Really Not All That Bright

It was awesome. I got a combination sammich, which in this case was sliced turkey, sliced ham, headcheese, pate, pickled carrots, lettuce, jalapenos, and a white sliced vegetable I didn't recognize.

That white sliced vegetable is daikon radish. There's usually often a sprinkling of fish sauce or soy sauce and some cilantro on these things.

They are fantastic. They're usually around $3 in these parts, and far better than anything you'll get from Subway, Jimmy John's, Quizno's, etc. I discovered them five years ago and have wondered where they've been my whole life. They gotta be made with a freshly baked banh mi baguette (rice and wheat flour), though (and pretty much invariably are). I once had one that had been obviously sitting around for a day, and the stale bread absolutely killed my enthusiasm.

[Really Not All That Bright]

Originally Posted by obfusciatrist

Yes, banh mi done right is very good. But the current explosion in popularity of vietnamese sandwiches (from my San Francisco office building I've got maybe six options within four blocks of me) is resulting in a an Americanization that is distressing.

None of the Vietnamese places around here have any non-Vietnamese patrons, as far as I can tell. They looked pretty shocked when I came in.

[Kolak of Twilo]

I enjoy going to Ba Le Bakery on Broadway at Argyle in Chicago for thee sandwiches. Buy 5 and get the 6th one free!

[lieu]

Re: Banh Mi!

Well, I'm glad to see this in fact wasn't an attempt to go out in a spectacular blaze of glory.

[x-ray vision]

The banh mi has become the "it" sandwich in NYC in the past couple of years. I've had them at quite a few different places and my favorite so far is this one in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn (a must go to area if you're visiting NYC and you're a beer lover). I don't know if it's considered authentic, but it's damn good.

[Biffy the Elephant Shrew]

Originally Posted by lieu

Re: Banh Mi!

Well, I'm glad to see this in fact wasn't an attempt to go out in a spectacular blaze of glory.

Don't banh mi, bro!

[anu-la1979]

It's threads like these that remind me how much I miss California (for 10 regretful minutes)!

I adore banh mi, and Vietnamese food in general.

[TheTerribleTako]

Hmm, I love banh mi. We have a Little Saigon here in Orange County, CA and the ones here are being sold at 2 for $5. My favorite is the "meatloaf" banh mi from a chain here called Banh Mi Che Cali. I have no idea what's in the meatloaf, but it's delicious. Ignorance is probably bliss. My drink of choice with banh mi is Thai iced ice - it soothes the burn of the jalapenos quite nicely.

There's a place in Little Saigon that sells the sugar cane drinks too, but they add in kumquat juice as well. The bit of astringency gives it much more a kick.

Boba originated in Taiwan, but it's spread throughout Asia like a plague. The word boba is actually a Taiwanese slang for boobs, since the large tapioca balls resemble tiny detached boobies.

[The Hamster King]

My favorite L.A. lunch wagon is the Nom Nom Truck which specializes in Banh Mi. They use fresh french bread and spread pate on it before they add the grilled pork and vegetables. I've waited in line half and hour to get a Nom Nom sandwich.

[Pyper]

Originally Posted by The Hamster King

My favorite L.A. lunch wagon is the Nom Nom Truck which specializes in Banh Mi. They use fresh french bread and spread pate on it before they add the grilled pork and vegetables. I've waited in line half and hour to get a Nom Nom sandwich.

Well, you've convinced me. I have a date with the Nom Nom truck in Manhattan Beach on Saturday.

[Johnny L.A.]

I want a bahn mi. Or two. But the only places within walking distance sell them for $7 or $8. Each. The place where they're $2 is almost two miles away, and I don't have time to walk that far on my lunch break.

[The Hamster King]

Originally Posted by Pyper

Well, you've convinced me. I have a date with the Nom Nom truck in Manhattan Beach on Saturday.

Oooo ... report back and tell me what you think!

The Mandoline Grill truck does banh mi as well, but I much prefer Nom Nom.

[The Hamster King]

And by a lucky coincidence the Nom Nom Truck was parked behind work today and my lunch meeting was canceled.

It was yummy.

[Really Not All That Bright]

I would wait half an hour at the Nom Nom Truck thanks to the name alone.

[Greg Charles]

Bánh mì actually just means bread, but I know the sandwiches you mean. I used to eat them in Saigon for 2000 dong, about 15 cents at the time. I noticed the shops have been popping up here until now they're almost as popular as the phở places. The ones I've been to slice the jalapeno though!

The white vegetable was probably pickled jicama. If you ask them what it is, I could probably translate it for you. Jicama is either củ đậu or củ sản depending if you ask a northerner or southerner, but I forget which is which.

Boba, bubble, or what they call pearl (trân châu) tea is something I never got the taste for. It got popular here before Viet Nam, but it's definitely there now.

It's really cool to see Vietnamese food getting popular. It's delicious and mostly really healthy too!

[Manwich]

I am gussing the word bánh comes from the French word for bread, pain. Google translate tells me mì means wheat.

In Sydney a lot of bakeries are owned by Vietnamese immigrants and they sell these things too, but they call them pork rolls. It was my quest to find the perfect pork roll and I must have tried dozens of different ones. The Sydney version seems to use slightly different vegetables - cucumber instead of lettuce maybe? And sliced red chillies. I think the sauce (fish sauce with sugar?) and pate are the key ingredients though, assuming the bread and vegetables are fresh.

I bought one from a lady on the street in Saigon and it was wrapped in her son's maths homework, which I thought was a nice touch. There is a Lao version too that is very similar.

[Manwich]

I am gussing the word bánh comes from the French word for bread, pain. Google translate tells me mì means wheat.

In Sydney a lot of bakeries are owned by Vietnamese immigrants and they sell these things too, but they call them pork rolls. It was my quest to find the perfect pork roll and I must have tried dozens of different ones. The Sydney version seems to use slightly different vegetables - cucumber instead of lettuce maybe? And sliced red chillies. I think the sauce (fish sauce with sugar?) and pate are the key ingredients though, assuming the bread and vegetables are fresh.

I bought one from a lady on the street in Saigon and it was wrapped in her son's maths homework, which I thought was a nice touch. There is a Lao version too that is very similar.

None of the Vietnamese places around here have any non-Vietnamese patrons, as far as I can tell. They looked pretty shocked when I came in.

Sounds like you have access to authentic Vietnamese food, I am really jealous.

[Tanaqui]

I love these sandwiches too! A tiny little take-out restaurant selling them recently opened nearby my house, in Tokyo. The owners appear to be Japanese, so I wonder about their story, but regardless of how authentic the sandwiches are, they are delicious! The baguettes are fresh baked, feature lots of cilantro (which sadly most Japanese hate), pickled daikon and carrots, and the one I always get has a kind of marinated and fried thin sliced beef (yakiniku). They also have a more traditional pate one but I'm not a huge fan. They cost about $5, which is very cheap for non-Japanese food in Tokyo. I get one every week.

[Jeff Lichtman]

Originally Posted by obfusciatrist

At least I still have Cam Huong Bakery in Oakland as an excellent source.

Yep! I haven't found better banh mi in the Bay Area. I usually order the fish cake sandwich.

[Really Not All That Bright]

Originally Posted by Manwich

Sounds like you have access to authentic Vietnamese food, I am really jealous.

Authentic enough that they ignored me for ten minutes until I said, "hey, give me a fucking sandwich!" (or words to that effect).

[anu-la1979]

Originally Posted by Greg Charles

It's really cool to see Vietnamese food getting popular. It's delicious and mostly really healthy too!

My family chooses it over Indian, Thai and Chinese when we go out now. It's lighter and just as flavourful, but since it's cooked, we can avoid the complaints that come up about sushi from people like my dad (gah! We lived in Japan for 8 months eons ago and he went there all the time and still hates it). Personally, I think it's a really elegant cuisine.

Mostly we keep mum about asking where the broth comes from and choose the non-red meat options. There's enough seafood that it keeps everyone on my side of the family happy and enough red meat options that my brother-in-law doesn't whine about having nothing to eat.

Our favourites are:

Pho Ga
Canh Chua Tom
Shrimp Paste and Grilled Shrimp Bun Noodles
Banh Xeo
Shrimp Paste appetizer that you wrap up in lettuce

And all the lovely lemongrass scented stir fries.

I was supposed to go to Vietnam/Laos/Thailand/Cambodia this summer but had to cancel because of job related stuff . I'm aiming for 2012, when school gets out.