Vietnamese Banh Mi with Pickled Carrots Recipe

Ingredients

• basically nothing you can’t put into a Banh Mi. The list of fillings includes steamed,
• pan-roasted or oven roasted seasoned pork belly, Vietnamese sausage, grilled
• pork, grilled pork patties, spreadable pork liver pate, grilled chicken, canned
• sardines in tomato sauce, soft pork meatballs in tomato sauce, head cheese,
• fried eggs and tofu. But to these
• ingredients, a true Banh Mi needs at least some fresh cucumber slices,
• cilantro, pickled carrots and or shredded daikon. To those ingredients, the condiments are
• also used: spicy chili sauce, sliced chilies, mayonnaise and cheese. With that treasury of fillings and vegetables
• and condiments, you can pretty well put anything into them. Our preference is for cooked sausage and a
• piece of ham topped with a slice of paté which is then topped with pickled
• carrots and sliced jalapenos (if we have them). And to whom do we turn for our pickled carrot
• recipe than Marcus Samuelsson’s Mormor.
• In all honesty, this
• is not a pickle that Mormor would have produced. But it uses her admonition of a 1-2-3
• solution. 1 Part vinegar, 2 parts sugar, 3 parts water. In Sweden the vinegar would be ättika, which is beechwood based vinegar
• known for its sinus clearing properties. The sugar would likely have been
• white. And the water straight from the
• tap. In St. Barthelemy, there was no
• ättika to be had. Instead I went for a Canne de Sucre (Sugar Cane) vinegar that was seasoned with scallions (Cive). I also used the ‘sugar in the
• raw’, unrefined sugar which is common on the island. Finally, I went with bottled water just because
• that is what we drink. The results were
• remarkable. A sweet and sour pickle that
• looked beautiful, tasted remarkable and made a perfect Banh Mi. Here’s the recipe:
• Recipe for Marcus
• Samuelsson’s Mormor’s Pickled Carrots à la St. Barth
• 1 large Carrot, peeled sliced into coins or julienned.
• 1 cups of Vinegar (your choice)
• In a small saucepan, combine the vinegar, sugar and water. Bring to
• a boil. Add the carrots. Reduce the heat
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