Banh Mi combines my favourite parts of Vietnamese and French cuisines - crusty baguette, pate, crunchy fresh carrots and herbs and delectable beef.
I don’t know about you but I think there’s nothing better than a fresh, crusty baguette, straight from the bakery (or boulangerie, if you’re in Paris - oh, to be in Paris). If you can’t be there, you may as well do as the French do and break off the top of the baguette and munch on it on your way home. That’s their one concession to the rule of no eating on the street. Speaking of which, I once stumbled across a baguette competition in Paris, and it was serious business. While the French perfected crusty bread, Vietnamese banh mi sandwiches take it to another level with their Asian influence, and if you can pick up your baguette from a Vietnamese bakery, you'll find they have a slightly crispier crust.
There are a few things you need to know when making this Beef Bahn Mi. The marinade is seriously sweet, done this way on purpose with honey, oyster sauce and brown sugar. This salty sweet flavour profile works perfectly with the quick pickles and fresh coriander (cilantro). If you prefer a spicy mayo kick, try making sriracha mayonnaise instead of regular mayonnaise, by mixing in a bit of sriracha sauce.
The second thing to know is how to Julienne carrots for those quick pickled carrots - see the tip for the details below - it’s easier than you think! You can also use rice vinegar to make pickled vegetables ahead of time. This recipe works well for weeknight meals since you can prep the pickled veggies in advance.
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Banh Mi Ingredients
- Steak (sirloin steaks or skirt steak, sirloin tip)
- Vegetable oil (or sesame oil for extra flavour)
- Garlic clove
- Honey
- Oyster sauce
- Brown sugar
- Fish sauce (I like to use red boat fish sauce)
- Dark soy sauce
- Chilli oil (opt.)
- Carrot (for carrot pickles)
- Cucumber
- Coriander
- Mint
- Spring onion (or yellow onion)
- Red or green chilli
- Lime
- Crusty baguette (preferably Vietnamese baguette, or if you are in the US, hoagie rolls)
- Mayonnaise
- Pate or cold cuts (opt.)
- Soy sauce
- Salt and black pepper
See recipe card for quantities.
How to make Beef Banh Mi
1. First we’ll get the steak out of the fridge and slice it into half cm pieces. This is smaller pieces than if you were making a stir fry, you want really thin slices. Set aside in a bowl with a drizzle of olive oil (or sesame oil) and a little bit of salt and black pepper.
- 500g steak
- 2 teaspoon olive oil
- Salt and pepper
2. To make the sauce, peel garlic cloves and grate them into a small bowl. Whisk together honey, oyster sauce, brown sugar, fish sauce, dark soy sauce and mix well. Set aside. If you would like to use chilli oil, add this now.
- 2 cloves garlic
- 2 tablespoon honey
- 2 tablespoon oyster sauce
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 2 tablespoon fish sauce
- 1 tablespoon dark soy sauce
3. Next, our veggies. To julienne a carrot, slice a thin slice from one side. Turn the carrot onto this flat edge to stabilise, then slice thinly. Stack slices and slice these into long thin pieces. Voila!
Use a peeler to shave cucumber into ribbons. Roughly chop coriander leaves and stalks. Pick mint leaves. Trim and finely slice spring onion. Slice the top from your chilli and down one side, deseed then slice into long ribbons. Slice lime into quarters. Set aside.
- 1 carrot
- 1 cucumber
- ½ bunch coriander
- ½ bunch mint
- ½ bunch spring onion
- 1 red or green chilli
- 1 lime
4. Using a bread knife, cut baguette into portions and then slice each portion almost all the way through. Spread mayonnaise (or sriracha mayonnaise for a spicier version) on the top slices of bread and if you are using pate or cold cuts, place them on the bottom slice of bread.
- 1 crusty baguette
- 2 tablespoon mayonnaise
- 60g pate (opt.)
5. Heat a nonstick skillet or large frying pan on medium-high heat and add oil. Once warm, place beef slices in a single layer (you may have to do this in batches). Let cook for a minute before you turn to get that flavourful beef char and cook for another minute on the other side. Then add the sauce and cook, stirring, until the sauce becomes sticky.
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- Sliced steak
6. To serve kids, slice their bread into rounds then add cucumber, carrot, beef, mayo and any herbs they like to their plate.
To serve adults in authentic banh mi style, place baguette slices loaded with carrot pickles, cucumber, fresh cilantro, mint, and the best part is pack in that flavourful beef, then add chilli, spring onion and more herbs. Squeeze over some lime juice, add a little more chilli oil or soy sauce if you wish.
- 3 tablespoon chilli oil (opt.)
- 1.5 tablespoon soy sauce
Substitutions
- Vegetarian - To make this vegetarian swap out beef for firm tofu or eggplant and skip the pate. You’ll need to cook the eggplant for longer. If you use tofu you could add Baba Ganoush instead of pate.
- Gluten Free - To make this GF use a GF bread roll (sorry for waxing lyrical above about baguettes) and then swap soy sauce for tamari.
- Dairy Free - No dairy in this dinner.
Variations on Banh Mi
- You can skip the baguette and make this a Beef Banh mi bowl by adding rice.
- You can use pork tenderloin instead of beef if you'd like a pork banh mi, or even use ground beef instead of steak, just divide beef into each crusty bread baguette.
Kid-Friendly Variations
- To make this dinner kid-friendly, skip the chilli oil in your marinade and add to adult’s plates at the end. Baguettes can also be tough on little mouths, so slice their baguette crosswise instead of down the middle to give them rounds of bread, and serve with beef and veggies on the side.
Equipment
You will need a sharp knife, a bread knife, a frying pan and a stove top.
Storage
Made up bahn mi won't store well, but you can use a large resealable plastic bag to store the fresh cut vegetables until you want to use them, they'll last a day or two in the fridge.
Top tip
How to Julienne carrots. For a long time this was a bit of a mystery to me, but I recently looked up how to do it properly and it was a lot easier than I thought.
First cut a thin slice off one edge of your carrot and sit your carrot on this flat edge. This is important because it means your carrot won’t roll around when you are trying to slice it.
Then slice your carrot as thinly as you can. I used to aim for 2-3mm wide, but this is too wide (crazy, I know). You want as thin as you can get it.
Then stack a pile of those slices (don’t overstack, only stack as many as are stable) and slice them as thinly as you can. And there you have it.
Recipe
Beef Banh Mi
Equipment
- Sharp knife
- Bread knife
- Frying pan
- Stovetop
Ingredients
- 500 g steak
- 2 teaspoon olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic
- 2 tablespoon honey
- 2 tablespoon oyster sauce
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 2 tablespoon fish sauce
- 1 tablespoon dark soy sauce
- 3 tablespoon chilli oil opt.
- 1 carrot
- 1 cucumber
- ½ bunch coriander
- ½ bunch mint
- ½ bunch spring onion
- 1 red or green chilli
- 1 lime
- 1 crusty baguette
- 2 tablespoon mayonnaise
- 60 g pate opt.
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1.5 tablespoon soy sauce
- Salt and pepper
Instructions
- First we’ll get the steak out of the fridge and slice it into half cm pieces. Set aside in a bowl with a drizzle of olive oil and a little bit of salt and pepper.500 g steak, 2 teaspoon olive oil, Salt and pepper
- To make the sauce, peel garlic and grate into a small bowl. Mix in honey, oyster sauce, brown sugar, fish sauce, dark soy sauce and mix well. Set aside.Note - we’ll hold the chilli oil in this step and add to adult plates at the end.2 cloves garlic, 2 tablespoon honey, 2 tablespoon oyster sauce, 1 tablespoon brown sugar, 2 tablespoon fish sauce, 1 tablespoon dark soy sauce
- Next, our veggies. To julienne a carrot, slice a thin slice from one side. Turn the carrot onto this flat edge to stabilise, then slice thinly. Stack slices and slice these into long thin pieces. Use a peeler to shave cucumber into ribbons. Roughly chop coriander leaves and stalks. Pick mint leaves. Trim and finely slice spring onion. Slice the top from your chilli and down one side, deseed then slice into long ribbons. Slice lime into quarters. Set aside.1 carrot, 1 cucumber, ½ bunch coriander, ½ bunch mint, ½ bunch spring onion, 1 red or green chilli, 1 lime
- Using a bread knife, cut baguette into portions and then slice each portion almost all the way through. Spread mayonnaise on one side and pate on the other (opt.)1 crusty baguette, 2 tablespoon mayonnaise, 60 g pate
- Heat a large frying pan on a high heat and add oil. Once warm, add beef in a single layer (you may have to do this in batches) and let cook for a minute before you turn and cook for another minute on the other side. Take any beef out for your child (if you want to), then add the sauce and cook, stirring, until the sauce becomes sticky.1 tablespoon vegetable oil, 500 g steak
- To serve kids, slice their bread into rounds then add cucumber, carrot, beef, mayo and any herbs they like to their plate.To serve adults, serve up bahn mi loaded with carrot, cucumber, coriander, mint, pack in that juicy beef, then add chilli, spring onion and more herbs. Squeeze over some lime juice, add a little more chilli oil or soy sauce if you wish and you’re good to go!3 tablespoon chilli oil, 1.5 tablespoon soy sauce
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