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.
But enough of baguettes! They are going to be the base of this delicious dinner. There are two things you need to know when making this Bahn Mi. Firstly - the marinade is seriously sweet. It’s done this way on purpose, there is no point fighting it, you have to enjoy it. 🙂 We’re using a mixture of honey, oyster sauce and brown sugar in ours, and this will go so well with the fresh herbs and carrots.
The second is how to Julienne carrots - see the tip for the details below - it’s easier than you think!
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Banh Mi Ingredients
- Steak
- Olive oil
- Garlic
- Honey
- Oyster sauce
- Brown sugar
- Fish sauce
- Dark soy sauce
- Chilli oil (opt.)
- Carrot
- Cucumber
- Coriander
- Mint
- Spring onion
- Red or green chilli
- Lime
- Crusty baguette
- Mayonnaise
- Pate (opt.)
- Vegetable oil
- Soy sauce
- Salt and 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. Set aside in a bowl with a drizzle of olive oil and a little bit of salt and pepper.
- 500g steak
- 2 teaspoon olive oil
- Salt and pepper
2. 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
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. 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 on one side and pate on the other (opt.)
- 1 crusty baguette
- 2 tablespoon mayonnaise
- 60g pate (opt.)
5. 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
- 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, serve up banh 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 (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.
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, a stove top.
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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