As I’ve mentioned before, about every two weeks I must satisfy an inherent Asian food craving—be it dumplings or soba noodles—I just have to add an oriental dish to our fortnightly menu rotation. Yesterday I woke up (at my usual 4:30AM) and felt utterly compelled to have bánh mì. Mr. and I hit the gym at around 5:30AM everyday and to kickstart our metabolisms we usually eat a cup of Dr. Mao’s Hot Herbal Cereal before training. That means come 8:30AM it’s practically lunchtime for us. So, around that time yesterday I started marinating pork tenderloin and pickling carrots and cucumber. Honoring the fact that it’s actually the hour of breakfast for most people, I decided to top these classic Vietnamese sandwiches with a couple of fried eggs—genius!
Thankfully, my dear friend and amazingly talented food stylist and photographer, Acirema Hernandez of Food That Looks Good, operates on my (sporadic) wavelength and made a swift impromptu appearance to capture all of this goodness. Enjoy.
Love,
LH
Photography and styling by Food That Looks Good.
- 3 Tablespoons fish sauce
- 2 Tablespoons honey
- 1 Tablespoon vegetable oil
- ½ teaspoon sesame oil
- 1 Tablespoon packed brown sugar
- 2 Tablespoons reduced sodium soy sauce (or Bragg’s Amino Acids)
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- ½ teaspoon ginger, finely chopped
- ½ teaspoon Santa Maria Seasoning or salt and pepper
- 1 lb. pork tenderloin, sliced into ½-inch thick slices
- 2 carrots, julienned
- 1 cucumber, thinly sliced
- 1 cup rice wine vinegar
- ¼ cup sugar
- 2 teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- 4 Tablespoons good quality whole grain mustard
- 3 teaspoons Siracha
- 1 Tablespoon Vegenaise (or mayonaise)
- 1 large French Baguette, cut into 4 portions or 4 mini baguettes
- 2 jalapeno peppers, thinly sliced
- Handful of fresh cilantro
- 1 cup of daikon radish, grated
- Duck liver pâté (I used chicken and duck liver pâté with black truffles)
- Whisk together the fish sauce, honey, vegetable and sesame oil, brown sugar, soy sauce, garlic, ginger and Santa Maria Seasoning (or salt and pepper) in a small bowl until well combined.
- Gently pound pork tenderloin slices to ¼” flat with a meat pounder or rolling pin. Set aside and repeat with the remaining slices. Place the meat in a Ziploc bag and pour in the marinade. Seal the bag and shake it around to fully coat the pork. Marinate the pork in the refrigerator for 30-minutes.
- Heat a fry pan medium to high heat and grill tenderloin slices 2-minutes each side, adding the marinade on the second side. Plate and cover before assembling sandwiches.
- Warm the rice wine vinegar, sugar, salt and red pepper flakes in a small saucepan. When you have brought it to a simmer, whisk well to make sure that the sugar and salt have disintegrated.
- Transfer it to a bowl and let it cool completely. Add the carrots and cucumber and refrigerate until ready to serve.
- In a small bowl mix together the grainy mustard, Siracha and Vegenaise. Set aside.
- Split the baguette portion without cutting all the way through (leave a hinge intact). Spread a generous layer of pâté and fill each sandwich with pork, pickled carrots and cucumbers, daikon radish, jalapeno and cilantro. Spread the top of the bread with Siracha Veganaise Mustard and more pâté if your heart so desires. Serve immediately.
