Okay, so I need to disclaim something. I made a thing that I'd been thinking about making since the start of this blog. I have a very fixed story behind it. It's a travel story. Yes, I'm sharing a travel story during a time of almost global immobility, so basically I am every force of Hell incarnated as a food blogger. I'm just like the people on social media sharing throwbacks to their prior travels; yes, the people that I've been systematically blocking from my timelines. So, here, I'm sorry, I'm the worst kind of hypocrite, but the, *ahem*, global pandemic only just dawned on me as I begun to write. If it makes you feel better, imagine me in a potent state of mortification as I cringe throughout this entire retelling. I won't judge you if you skip straight through to the recipe.
Okay, onward bound! Just over a year ago, I took a trip to Hanoi with my mother as a travelling partner. Somehow we'd found a package for flights and a hotel that was reasonable enough for the both of us to feel like we could justifiably go (not an easy feat, and probably not a replicable one at that). Given our modest means, Mum's plan was to go to see New York for her 60th birthday (which is this October, so we're monitoring that situation closely) and that would be it for travelling. Save for an impromptu whisking away to South East Asia, of course.
We had a few ups and downs on the journey to Vietnam as well as the first day. I don't have a wealth of flying experience, but the crew on Thai Airways were pretty delightful, however I made the more-than-a-little-questionable choice of choosing The Favourite as one of my in-flight movies. Have you seen The Favourite? You have? Great! Have you seen it with relatives perched in viewing distance? No? Take it from me, it's not one for the "watch with parents" pile. More awkwardness then ensued as we found ourselves in the lobby of the hotel, being informed that our booking could not be found despite our printed references. Images of sleeping in parks flashed through our minds, until the booking was finally located!
As this was the first day, we took it pretty low key. We went for a wander around the neighbourhood, and stopped for a Hanoi-brand beer in a large flower garden with a windmill (this one, in fact). Side note: one of the key things to do in Hanoi is to stop for beer at least once every day. Specifically, find a cheap looking place with plastic chairs on the curbside and pick between the Hanoi or Saigon varieties; they'll be the ones to bring you out a bag of free redskin peanuts with your drinks. Then, spend the next half an hour just watching people go by on their motorbikes. I'm not a fan of day-drinking generally, but this was a mandatory experience.
As the evening dawned, we needed to find somewhere to get something to eat. Mum wanted to go to the branch of Loving Hut, just down the street from our accommodation. For those of you who don't know Loving Hut, it's a global chain of vegan restaurants established by the Vietnamese cybersectarian spiritual leader Ching Hai (given that she calls herself the Supreme Master, I'm verging on calling this a cult). We've been to a couple of the chains in the UK and one in Amsterdam, so we figured it would be a safe bet as something we already knew. Cult-status notwithstanding, we didn't end up there on the first night (but we did make it there eventually), as we walked past a place called The Night Owl, about two minutes from where we were staying that boasted a vegan buffet.
The night we walked in, the bar was being run by two Gen-Z guys; one had dyed silver hair, and the other with stylishly oversized hipster-esque glasses and they both spoke to us fluently in English before we had a chance to garble through any Vietnamese we may have absorbed. The place had an indoor rock pool, and several colourful wall murals, a very youthful energy overall. I can't really remember what was on the vegan buffet, apart from the fact that it was delicious, but what I do recall very vividly is that they had a resident cat called Mango, as well as a tiny dog that occasionally visited too; her name was Meatball. We also saw that they had a breakfast menu too, and knew exactly where we'd be going the next morning.
As day break came, we walked past the vendors from the nighttime flower market packing away their produce on the way to the bar. Walking into the establishment, we were greeted with a very familiar scene. Two jovial older ladies ushered us to a table and handed us menus immediately. Unlike the guys from the night before, they didn't speak English so we had a chance to try out our clumsy language skills. It took me a few attempts to say "tôi muốn bánh mì và ca phe sua nong" (I would like a bánh mì and coffee with milk and sugar) in a way that was at all intelligible, but we got there in the end. Being able to practice language in a place where people are not only tolerating your incompetence, but actively smiling encouragingly as you struggle is a big confidence boost, maybe it's one of the reasons why we continued to visit this place?
Okay, but the main reason we kept coming back is for the vegan bánh mì. The usual cold-cuts were replaced with marinated and fried tofu, and placed in a baguette with julienned vegetables pickled in rice vinegar and a scattering of coriander leaves. This is a classic dish replicated across the entirety of Vietnam (and, I believe, it's become a college food staple across the US too) and we adopted it as our breakfast virtually every day. This would always come with a coffee, sweetened with condensed milk. Vietnam has an incredible cafe culture, and coffee is served in unique and incredible ways (but perhaps I'll talk about this sometime else).
In the year following the trip, I made bánh mì a few times, alternating the filling each time. I've made it with marinated firm tofu, and also one ill-advised time with silken tofu (yes, it disintegrated, but I still remember enjoying it somehow?). Another time I made it with an egg omelette which was also fantastic. My favourite incarnation, however, was the most recent; instead of meat, I used king oyster mushrooms sliced into flat strips down their length and marinated. If there's anything notable about the king oyster mushroom, it is the dramatic protrusion of the stalk. When fried, this takes on an incredibly meaty texture and is a fabulous repository of flavour. So, this is an offering I bring to you today!
A note on bread must be given here, and this may seem very basic but it is of crucial importance. The baguette used in Vietnam for bánh mì is very specific; it is by no means a fancy bread, but it is the most suited for purpose. It has a slightly tough outer layer, but yields very easily to softness within (as the best of us do). Going by a tip from the venerable Ottolenghi from his own version of this dish I used a part-baked baguette from a supermarket which you finish in your oven, and I suggest you do this too. Not only are they cheap and delicious, it also means you get oven-warm bread at the end of it. Oven. Warmed. Bread. No further illustration is needed, but it does have the perfect texture for the purpose. Failing this, I've also found hot dog buns to be OK for this recipe, but I much prefer the part-baked baguette. Don't even think about touching anything with the word "artisan" or "rustic" in the description. You will find yourself mired in regret as all of your filling makes a hasty escape from your forlorn sandwich. I trust you to do the right thing. For yourself; for all of us.
King Oyster Mushroom Bánh Mì
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 10 minutes
Makes: 2 baguettes, or 4 half-baguettes
Ingredients
2 part-baked white baguettes
2 king oyster mushrooms
60ml light soy sauce
1 tbsp honey
1/2 tsp sesame oil
4 tbsp mixed vegetable pickle (see recipe below)
2 tbsp fresh coriander leaves
2 tbsp mayonnaise (ideally not low-fat, vegan mayo is fine)
1 tsp lime juice
A few sprays of cooking oil or 1 tsp vegetable oil
1/2 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp salt
Method
Pre-heat the oven to the temperature specified on the instructions of your part baked baguettes. When the oven has come to temperature, cook the baguettes in the oven for the specified time. I usually do this while I am preparing the mushrooms.
Slice the mushrooms into 4-5 flat slices that run along their length. Don't worry too much if they aren't of a consistent thickness; this won't matter too much!
Mix together the soy sauce, the honey and the sesame oil. Place the mushroom slices in a bowl (a flat-ish bowl works best here, but any one will do) and pour the soy sauce mixture over them. Fold the mushrooms into the mixture until they are evenly coated.
In a separate bowl, mix together mayonnaise and lime juice until fully combined, and then add the sugar and stir through until it has been incorporated.
Spray a medium sized frying pan with spray-able cooking oil, or alternatively add 1 tsp of vegetable oil and use kitchen towel to spread it around the pan. The rationale here is that you want a relatively dry fry for the mushrooms (I wouldn't usually advocate fry-light, I promise). Heat the oiled pan over a high heat before adding the mushroom slices, making sure that they don't overlap. Fry for 2 minutes on each side before taking off the heat.
Cut your baguettes open and spread them with the mayonnaise-lime mixture. Layer each baguette with the fried mushrooms, the vegetable pickle and the fresh coriander.
Carefully cut each baguette in half and serve.
Mixed-Vegetable Pickle
Preparation time: 20 minutes
Fills a 400ml jar.
Ingredients
1 medium carrot
1/2 a cucumber
1 small Korean radish
2 medium-heat chillis
250ml rice vinegar
Method
Slice each of the vegetables into thin strips, removing the seeds from chillis. Add the vegetables strips into your jar, alternating the type as you go to ensure an even distribution. If you push the vegetables down as you pack them into the jar, you will be able to fit more in and less rice vinegar will be needed.
Once the jar is full of the vegetable strips, pour over the rice vinegar until it reaches the rim of the jar.
Leave for 15 minutes before serving. The pickles can be kept for up to one month.
Notes & Adjustments
You may be wondering what else you can use the pickles for. Really, anything that benefits from some sour crunch will do, but things such as hot dogs and burgers (vegetarian, in my case) go wonderfully with them. You can also have them with salad or on top of noodles. They're incredibly versatile and keep a very fresh taste to them, so try them whenever it feels right to do so.
Not a fan of coriander? You can substitute it for basil, mint or parsley. I feel like a combination of the three would be fantastic. Maybe even try Thai Basil?
The vegetables you use for the pickle are really up to you (within reason). I forgot to buy cucumber, so I didn't use it. Which, perhaps, is just as well because no one in my house really has any other use for cucumber. You could potentially use things such as courgette, pink radish... maybe parsnip? Who knows. I would definitely include some kind of chilli, and at least one thing that's going to provide some crunch.
If you can't get rice vinegar, then normal pickling vinegar will do but may impact on the fresh taste of the vegetables. This is sold pretty commonly in the world foods section of supermarkets, but you can find it much cheaper in Asian grocery stores (perhaps consider an online order?)
I know that you can get king oyster mushrooms in Tesco. I can't vouch for other supermarkets however. If you can't find them, I would suggest perhaps using the large chestnut mushrooms, and slicing them into long strips across their dome.
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