Best Banh Mi in Ireland

Sunday night we had the best Banh Mi in Ireland.....cooked by Brian.

We ate Vietnamese pho & banh mi often in San Francisco.  Brian would have a banh mi for lunch pretty much every time he didn't pack his own lunch.  I often would go out for pho with co-workers.  And on any given rainy, or non-rainy weekend, we would often grab a bowl of pho or banh mi.  

As always, what you really want, you can't have.  Ever since moving to Dublin, and learning of the lack of Vietnamese food (aka it doesn't exist), we crave it all the time.

Brian had been planning on making banh mi for a while now.  He had been scouting the Asian Market for pickled or fresh daikon and pickled carrots, since those are really the only unique ingredients needed.  When he came up empty handed, there was only 1 solution - bring a daikon home from London, and do the pickling himself.  And that he did.

Step 1: Pickle the carrots and daikon - this should be done at least 2 day in advance.  Brian followed this recipe from Battle of the Banh Mi.

Step 2: Banh Mi day.  Prepare the fillings - chopped cilantro, thinly sliced cucumber, shallots, jalapenos and sliced pork.  Brian followed the recipe on Battle of the Banh Mi for the pork, and it was amazing.

Step 3: Prepare the bread.  The bread is important.  Finding the perfect French Baguette is going to be our toughest challenge.  Spread mayonnaise, plum sauce and a little fish sauce onto your bread.

Step 4: Compile.  Add all the toppings above, including your pickled daikon and carrots.

Step 5: Enjoy!  And we sure did.

It was pretty amazing.  We need to keep looking for the right bread, but other than that, we wouldn't change a thing.  The best part about it was Brian said it was a really easy dinner and we could have it anytime!  I love it.