So, Vietnamese food… If you haven’t tried it, I recommend you should. Here I’ve done a take on the Vietnamese sandwich the ‘Banh Mi’ — I’ve made them into little sliders… Mini Banh Mi’s. I’ve only made these sandwiches once before — see my Chicken Banh Mi post. The chicken version was a favorite, but I wanted to check out some more variations of this awesome little sandwich.
Since I’ve had a bit of time off over the holidays, I’ve been conquering a few ‘bigger’ recipes … not harder, just with a few more steps and components. But I’m telling you, the results are incredible. This sandwich consists of the juicy slow-cooked pork, a tangy pickled vegetable mix, and a spicy Sriracha mayonnaise. I stack it all up on a small slider bun, garnish with cilantro and jalapeno slices, and then indulge. I could have eaten ALL of these little flavor-packed sandwiches.. but I restrained. It’s January afterall.
Happy New Year, by the way.
I’m really excited about a Christmas present I got myself, a badass mandoline from Amazon that allowed me to chop the veggies for the pickled veggie mix (see below). I used red radishes here because my grocery store was missing daikon. Oh well though, the red radishes were still delish, and made the combo even more colorful and beautiful!
- Preheat oven to 275 degrees F. Mix five spice, salt, pepper, cayenne, and brown sugar together, and generously rub pork shoulder until coated.
- Heat a Dutch oven over medium-high heat, pour a few tablespoons of grapeseed oil in the dutch oven, and let it heat up. Sear your pork shoulder on every side.
- Meanwhile, heat sesame oil over medium-high heat in a large pan, add the garlic and saute for a minute or two until fragrant. Add the ginger and saute a minute more. Add tamari, rice vinegar and water and cook a few minutes more.
- Add the sauce to the Dutch oven with the pork, and scatter onion slices around the shoulder. Place the Dutch oven into the preheated oven and cook for 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 hours until tender. Remove pork and slice or shred for sandwiches, and add back to the Dutch oven (with the flavorful sauce).
- In a medium bowl or large mason jar (or 2), mix radish, carrots, and cucumber. In a medium saucepan heat vinegar, salt, and sugar over medium-high heat. Once sugar is dissolved, pour over the mixed vegetables. Set aside or in fridge until ready to use.
- Whisk all ingredients together. Add to a squeeze bottle to make things easier.
- Brush buns with Sriracha mayonnaise and toast on a flat-top or hot pan (350 degrees F) for a few minutes until starting to brown (3-4 minutes).
- Add a few pieces of pork to each bun, and top with pickled vegetables, cilantro, jalapenos and a squeeze of more of the Sriracha mayonnaise.
- *Traditional Banh Mi's are made with the diakon radish, but I used red radishes (they're pretty, and my grocery store was out of daikon :-/). Use whichever you want!