Bahn Mi

So last nights dinner was Bahn Mi. This is a Vietnamese style pork sandwich. The very first time I saw the recipe I fell in love and after making it, I was not disappointed. I have since made it several times and for various people. They all seem to enjoy it. I got a hankering for pork tenderloin and this recipe popped in my head and I realized I hadnt made a post about this and that is a crime against food humanity! So now I will share with you a wonderful and different type of sandwich that will impress all of your friends and family. And to be honest it is so simple.

Recipe:
1 pork tenderloin
chili garlic sauce*
1 pkg broccoli slaw
1 radish, sliced thin
1/2 cucumber, peeled and sliced thin
2-3 green onions, sliced thin
bean sprouts
1/2c apple cider or red wine vinegar
1t sugar
1t salt
1/2c mayo
6 sub rolls or large french baguette cut into 4-6inch lengths

*Chili garlic sauce is exactly what you think it is, a blend of chilies and garlic into a paste that can be rubbed on meats, placed in skillets and cooked with, added to mayo for a spicy condiment...it is a great little sauce to have on hand. I prefer the Lee Kum Kee brand the best. But sometimes you buy what you can find!

Season your tenderloin with salt and rub chili garlic sauce all over the pork. Place your pork tenderloin on a pan lines with foil and cook at 325 degrees for about an hour or until cooked through. Remove from oven and let rest. You could even do this step the night before and place in the fridge until ready to slice.

Slice the meat into 1/2inch thick medallions.

 Place in a skillet and if you like heat, add some more chili garlic sauce to each medallion as it heats up. Remove from pan and place all medallions on a plate.

Place vinegar, sugar, and salt in a medium bowl and whisk together to mix. Add your broccoli slaw and sliced radishes. This needs to marinate 30 minutes to 3 hours before you are ready to eat. Cover and place in fridge until ready to assemble.

Mix 1/2c mayo and 1t chili garlic sauce in a small bowl. Mix together well and cover and place in fridge.

Now that everythings prepped and ready to go, you are ready to assemble your awesome sandwich!!

Take your bread and cut it in half, if its not already done. Then slather with chili garlic mayo. Layer in some slices of pork tenderloin medallions. Then top with pickled broccoli slaw, cucumber slices, green onions, and bean sprouts. Try your best to shut the sandwich and enjoy!!

I hope that everyone enjoys this sandwich as much as we do. I didnt have cucumber so I used the bean sprouts only. You just want to cooling crunch from those items to counterbalance the heat from the chili garlic sauce. Asian style food is a good combination of heat, sour, sweet, crunch, soft, color. And I think this sandwich enbodies all of that. So try something different with that pork tenderloin in your freezer and get out of your own food rut.