VIETNAMESE CHICKEN SANDWICH (BANH MI)

This is my first time eating and making this asian sandwich. And, surprisingly vietnamese sandwich is pretty famous in the states. For some reason, I never know or heard it when I lived in asian countries before.

As usual, my dear friend Selly didn't hesitate to share the recipe of vietnamese chicken sandwich to me. *thank you Sel!*

It tasted really good! The freshness of daikon and carrot pickles became the secret of this sandwich. Also, cilantro made the taste rich of flavor. You have to try this asian sandwich if you never have one! I bet you will like it ;).



Vietnamese Chicken Sandwich (Banh Mi)

Ingredients:
6 pieces of soft baguette (Belzy - either buy or homemade baguettes)

For the pickles:
3 cups of daikon (Japanese White Radish), julienned
3 cups of carrot, julienned
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup white vinegar
1/4 tsp salt

For the filling:
4 pieces chicken fillet (or you can use skinless boneless chicken thigh), marinated*
1 cup of cilantro leaf
1/2 cup of red onion, thinly sliced
1 piece of cucumber, thinly sliced
1/4 cup of mayonnaise
Soy sauce and blackpepper

For the chicken marinate:
1/4 cup soy sauce
6 garlic gloves, pasted (you can use mortar&pestle, or food processor)
4 shallots, pasted (you can use mortar&pestle, or food processor)
2 tbsp fish sauce
2 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tbsp sugar
2 tsp five spice powder
1 tsp star anise powder

Directions:
For the pickles:
Combine sugar, white vinegar and salt, stir until dissolved. Place daikon and carrot in a separate bowl. Pour in the vinegar mixture to each bowl. Marinate for 2 hours or more (or it can be made 1 day ahead and chill it in the refrigerator). Drained well. Set aside.

For the chicken:
Mix all marinade ingredients, then marinate the chicken for an hour or overnight.
Before grilling the chicken add 1 tbsp vegetable oil in the chicken marinate.
Grill the chicken until cooked through, transfer to plate, slice it then cover with foil to keep warm.

To Assemble:
Grill or broil baguette for 1 to 2 minutes (Belzy - since my husband is not a fan of crunchy bread I used microwave to warm the baguette), split lengthwise, scoope out some of soft center.
Spread mayonnaise on bottom half of the baguette. Top with cucumber slices, then top with chicken, daikon and carrots pickles, red onion and cilantro. Season with soy sauce and blackpepper. Place top baguette piece over, pressing to compact and serve immediately.