For the love of Bánh Mì! (Vietnamese sandwiches)

Bánh Mì or the Vietnamese sandwich is yummy goodness inside a bun with a perfect combination of fresh baked bread, Vietnamese deli meat, Vietnamese pickles, veggies, pate, and creamy bơ (Vietnamese mayonnaise)...aka heaven in a bite. This is a cheap eat easily bought but if you had time, you should try making this at home because it tastes 1000x better! I recently served bánh mì at my 25th birthday party but I cheated because my mom made the pickles and bơ. This weekend, I finally had the chance to experiment with making these and the result was delicious so I wanted to share it with you today.

If you have ever been to a bánh mì shop, you know that there are many types of bánh mì with different fillings. The one I have here today is my version of the cold cut special combo (bánh mì đặc biệt).

Ingredients for sandwiches:
French baguettes (I like mine on the soft side and I highly recommend you buying these freshly baked)
cilantro
cucumber
sliced jalapenos
headcheese (giò thủ)
Vietnamese sausage/pork roll (giò lụa )
pate spread
soy sauce

Ingredients for Vietnamese pickles đồ chua:
1 large daikon
4-5 carrots
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar
2 cups water
1 cup vinegar

Ingredients for Vietnamese mayonnaise: 
3 eggs
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt

1. Prepare the Vietnamese pickles because this tastes better pickled overnight.

• Shred the daikon and carrots into thin strips
• Wash the shreds with 1 tablespoon sugar and 1/2 tablespoon salt. Without rinsing, drain the liquid and place the shreds in a colander and let it sit for about 5 minutes
• After 5 minutes wash the shreds with water in a vigorous manner by squeezing the portions tightly 
• Drain and firmly squeeze the shreds to remove all the water and set aside
• Prepare the brine. Use your judgement for how much brine to make versus how much shredded veggie you have. If it is not enough for the veggies you can double the recipe (which is what I ended up doing).
• Place 2 cups of warm/hot water in your container or jar. Mix with 1 cup sugar, 1 cup vinegar, and 1 tsp of salt.
• Place the veggie shreds into your container and set aside in the fridge. Đồ chua tastes better pickled at least overnight but you can enjoy it after a few hours if you wish. 
• The flavors improve with time and your pickles can last 4-6 weeks in the fridge. 

2. Prepare the Vietnamese mayonnaise. 

(recipe and photos courtesy of my mom at Junniebites)

• Mix 3 egg yolks with a hand mixer on low. Mix the egg yolks in one direction and slowly drizzle in the oil as you continue to mix.
• When the egg and oil mixture thickens to the consistent you would like add the onion powder, garlic powder, sugar and salt. Mix well. And there you have it, the best buttery, garlic-y and creamy Vietnamese mayonnaise...my favorite! 

3. Prepare your sandwich components.

• Slice your cucumbers in to thin strips.
• Slice your jalapenos.
• Thinly slice your Vietnamese cold cut meats.
• Wash your cilantro.

4. Put your sandwich together.

• Start with slicing your baguette in half length-wise.
• Spread pate on one side and bơ on the other.
• Fill the sandwich with your meat fillings.
• Fill your sandwich with pickled veggies, cucumber, cilantro, and jalapeno.
• Drizzle a bit of soy sauce on top to taste.
• If you're feeling fancy, top with a fried egg. Highly recommended, very yummy. 

September 2012 Favorites

Inspired by the Youtube beauty guru monthly favorites videos, I bring you my own favorites this past month. I have really been enjoying watching the videos that come out because I learn of new products and get inspired to try new things. Included will be beauty, food, and other random favorites.

Beauty  

1. Revlon lip butter and Just bitten lip stains! 
I have been obsessed with both of these products for a long time! They have been a viral trend since they first came out. I remember going to multiple stores to hunt for them and they would always be out of stock. Luckily, they are much easier to find now. Never buy these when they are not on sale! They often have coupons you can use in addition to the sale. The best deal I have found yet was at CVS, where I paid about $6.50 for one and got $4 CVS extra bucks, which I often used to purchase another lipstick. You can usually do this multiple times at CVS, which is awesome.

I've collected about 7-8 lip butters...that's how obsessed I am! The packaging is so cute and the product is really great. It's moisturizing and fun. The colors are more on the sheer side but some of the berry and red color lip butters have good color payoff. My favorite this past month was Sweet Tart. It's a bright in-your-face pink and I fought with myself for weeks before just giving into buying it and I'm glad I did. It turns out to be a fun wearable color. I only hesitated in buying this color because I typically don't wear bold colors...until I decided to just go for it.

My favorite Just Bitten Lip Stains are Honey and Sweetheart. The Just Bitten Lip Stain in Honey is a really nice "your lip but better" shade and the Sweetheart color is lot more pigmented and bright. The premise behind this wonderful product is that it is a lip balm as well as a lip stain. It goes on glossy and is pretty hydrating but when the initial sheen is worn off, you still have nice color left on the lips. I am a big fan of this because I hate reapplying lipstick and worrying about where my lipstick goes after I eat something.

2. Revlon PhotoReady concealer
I don't know what happened this month but I had a bad breakout during that time of month. I usually don't have blemish issues but when I do, my photoready concealer is my best friend. It blends really well and does a great job of concealing my trouble areas and under eye circles.

3. Suave Dry Shampoo

I learned about dry shampoo from several people on Youtube and decided to give it a try. The first time I tried it, I thought the texture felt weird and it wasn't working. However, after a few tries, I started to really like it. It helps absorb oils in your hair between washes and this particular one also gives me some volume...which is a big plus because my hair is naturally fine and flat. This dry shampoo also smells like citrus heaven, a major plus! 

4. Makeshift makeup bag from Ikea
I honestly don't know the intended use of this bag but I use it for my makeup now. I really like it because it's a structured bag so it's easy to see all my stuff and it's such a nice hot pink color.

Food

My coworker introduced to me these individual snack size hummus packages from Costco. I love these because it makes me eat more veggies and very portable. I enjoy these with cucumbers, carrots, sweet bell peppers, or crackers.

Current song obsessions

1. This cute cover of "Good Time" by Luke Conard and Missglamorazzi. I love the filming!

2. LK Con Song Yeu Thuong by Dan Truong. This is a medley of Dan Truong's hit songs. I didn't hear this song before I saw him perform it live. Ever since that night, I've been addicted to this song. The beginning is slow and a bit different but the middle is so upbeat and cute. I'll be writing about my concert experience in a later post.