Banh Mi

This banh mi (Vietnamese sandwich) is made with chicken and full of pickled vegetables. My husband works around a lot of Vietnamese restaurants, and I was making him bring me home these tasty sandwiches. Finally I attempted to make one, and found that my recipe was even better than the restaurants', mainly because I used chicken breast and fresher ingredients. I also love the pickled vegetables, so I make sure there are plenty of those.

• Preparation Time: 30 mins
• Cooking Time: 20 mins
• Total Time: 50 mins
• Calories: 657 Calories

Ingredients

• ¼ cup water
• ¼ cup white sugar
• ground black pepper to taste
• ½ cup rice vinegar
• 1 skinless, boneless chicken breast half
• 1 tablespoon fresh cilantro leaves
• 1 pinch garlic salt, or to taste
• 1 wedge lime
• 4 tablespoons mayonnaise
• ¼ cup matchstick-cut carrots
• 1 (12 inch) French baguette
• ¼ cup peeled and matchstick-cut daikon radish
• ¼ cup thinly sliced white onion
• ¼ cup thinly sliced cucumber
• 1 small jalapeno pepper, cut into 1/16-inch-thick matchsticks

Recipe Instructions

Step 1

Combine rice vinegar, sugar, and water in a saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring until sugar has dissolved, about 1 minute. Allow the mixture to cool.

Step 2

Place carrot, radish, and onion in a bowl. Pour in cooled vinegar mixture and let marinate at least 30 minutes.

Step 3

While vegetables marinate, set an oven rack about 6 inches from the heat source and preheat the broiler. Lightly oil a slotted broiler pan.

Step 4

Sprinkle chicken breast with garlic salt and pepper.

Step 5

Place chicken on the prepared pan and broil, turning once, until browned and no longer pink in the center, about 6 minutes per side.

Step 6

Place chicken on a cutting board. Cut into bite-sized pieces.

Step 7

Slice baguette in half lengthwise. Pull out the soft center of the bread, leaving a cavity for the fillings.

Step 8

Lightly toast baguette under the broiler, 2 to 3 minutes.

Step 9

Drain off excess vinegar mixture after vegetables have marinated.

Step 10

To assemble the sandwich, spread each half of toasted baguette with mayonnaise. Layer chicken on the bottom half of the bread. Top with cucumber, drained pickled vegetables, cilantro, and jalapeno. Squeeze lime wedge over fillings and cover with top half of baguette.

Step 11

Cut into two 6-inch sandwiches to serve.