Vietnamese Pickled Daikon and Carrot and Homemade Bánh Mì

Earlier this year I went on a trip to Vietnam.  I travelled from South to North; going from Ho Chi Minh City to Hanoi and stopping in Hoi An and Da Nang on the way.  The trip was really memorable, not just for the sights and the people, but especially for the food.  In fact, food was pretty much at the forefront of my mind when I decided to travel there.  That's right - I wanted to have an "authentic" Vietnamese food experience.

Even before we left, I was researching the best places to eat in each destination.  Here in Sydney, everyone was (and still is) going crazy for Vietnamese Pork Rolls - Bánh Mì.  The first time I tried one was on the recommendation of someone at work.  Working in Ultimo, I was surrounded by pork roll vendors - each one slightly different, but all really tasty.  And once I had tried one of these delicious rolls, it became a staple in my weekly lunch repertoire - and all for the bargain price of around $4.50 (my girlfriend tells me that her first Bánh Mì was a $3.50 roll at UNSW, which was a special uni price - she is also hooked).

I couldn't believe that I hadn't discovered Bánh Mì before - The French influences harmonising with the Asian flavours.  Rich Pâté.  Crusty baguette.   Putting chilli and coriander in a sandwich! Totally makes sense.

So naturally, I was compelled to find the best Bánh Mì in Vietnam. Anthony Bourdain provided me with the answer.  In his popular TV program "No Reservations" he was brought by his intrepid French business partner to what he believed was the most delicious Bánh Mì in the world.  It was located in Hoi An and was being served from a tiny stall near the markets.



I found a blog online that mapped out the location of this Bánh Mì stall, and after wandering around the markets a few times, we spotted it.  There were a lot of locals queueing up out the front - a very positive sign.  And when I finally had a bite of this local delicacy, it certainly didn't disappoint.

All of the best sandwiches tend to feature some kind of pickle, and it's no different with Bánh Mì.  They tend to include a very simple pickled carrot, and sometimes pickled daikon or white radish.

I've been having a bit of a daikon phase at the moment, probably because they're one of the only things in season!  After the success of the Japanese style daikon pickle I was keen on using the vegetable again.  So I made a Vietnamese style pickle which I could then use on my own homemade Bánh Mì.

 This pickle has similarities to the Atchara I posted a few weeks ago, but obviously with the distinct daikon flavour and texture, rather than green papaya.  It's crunchier and less salty too.

For my homemade Bánh Mì  I use slow cooked pork, rather than the standard lunch meat style pork that's normally used.  The coconut juice and the five spice add an interesting fragrance to the meat.  But I guess the question remains, "Is it worth making your own Bánh Mì?"  Well, in terms of flavour and using up leftover daikon - Yes.   But in terms of cost per sandwich - Hell No.  Go here instead.

Homemade Bánh Mì

What you need:

• 1kg of pork belly;
• Daikon and carrot pickles (see recipe below)
• 350ml of young coconut juice (a can's worth);
• 1/4 cup of soy sauce;
• 2 tablespoons of sugar;
• 4 tablespoons of fish sauce;
• 1 tablespooon of chinese five spice powder;
• 1 stick of cimnamon;
• 1 star anise;
• Salt and pepper to taste;
• Mayonaise;
• Bread rolls - try and get rolls from a Vietnamese bakery;
• Spring onion;
• Coriander;
• Mint;
• Pâté - we just used the standard stuff you can find in supermarkets;
• 1 Cucumber, cut lengthways into long, thin strips;
• Sriracha Chilli Sauce;
• Lettuce leaves (optional).

Sauce:

• 2 birdseye chillis, finely chopped;  
• 3 teaspoons of sugar;
• 1 clove of garlic, crushed;
• 1 tablespoon of fish sauce;
• The juice of one lime.

Making the Bánh Mì:

1. The first step is making the slow cooked pork.  Place the pork belly into a pot or slow cooker.  Pour in the coconut juice, soy sauce, fish sauce and sugar.  Bring the pot to the boil.
2. Place in the cinammon and star anise, along with some salt and pepper, and then lower the temperature to a simmer (in a slow cooker, place it on low).  Cook for 4 hours.
3. The next step is making the sauce.  Whisk the sugar with the lime juice and fish sauce until dissolved. Add the chilli and garlic into the sauce and stir.  
4. The order that I used to construct the Bánh Mì is:
• Pâté on one side of the roll;
• Mayonaise on the other side of the roll;
• Cucumber strip;
• Spring onions;
• Shredded pork;
• Daikon and Carrot pickles;
• Salad leaves;
• mint and coriander;
• drizzle with sauce.

Vietnamese Daikon and Carrot Pickles

What you need

• 2 large carrots, julienned;
• Around 500g of daikon, julienned (we used one large daikon);
• 1 tablespoon of salt;
• 1 tablespoon of sugar
• 1 1/2 cups of white vinegar;
• 1 cup of warm water;
• 2/3 cup of caster sugar.

The pickling

1. Put all the julienned carrot and daikon in a large bowl.  Sprinkle a tablespoon of salt and a tablespoon of sugar over the vegetables, and then using your hands, mix them around, coating them in the salt and sugar.  This will draw water out of carrot and daikon.  Do this until the vegetables have softened and the daikon in particular is bendy (around 3-5 mins).
2. Now, rinse off the vegetables in a colander thoroughly and then drain,
3. In a bowl, mix the vinegar, sugar and water until the sugar has dissolved completely.
4. Finally, add the daikon and carrot into sterilised jars, pour over the pickling brine and seal.  They will be ready to use in a day or so.  

Food Flat-Lay 2 - Sashimi Platter Feat. Pickled Daikon

At the start of July I came up with the idea of doing Food Flat-Lays as a way of featuring the pickles and preserves that I'd made.  The first one I did was a cheese platter and it's been a month since then - I got side tracked pickling!  But I've now done a couple more and will hopefully be doing them more regularly now.

  

I may have mentioned previously in my post about Pickled Daikon, that I can't get enough of Sashimi.  I recently went to the Sydney Fish Markets to get some seafood from my favourite fishmonger there, Claudio's, because I was cooking lunch for my folks.  I also decided to buy some sashimi and oysters to try with the pickled daikon for dinner.

The result is the platter above which includes:

1. Pickled Daikon.  I was happy with how the pickled daikon turned out.  It was really similar to the pickled daikon you get at Japanese restaurants, but I'd say a little bit sharper and as a result, fresher on the palate.  The funky radish flavour along with the rice wine in the brine made it taste completely different from other pickles I've made, and the ginger in the brine makes it perfect for Japanese food.  My colleagues at work often order in some Japanese food from Wafu for lunch.  The food is really wholesome and delicious.  I gave a few of them jars of this daikon, which works really well with the food.  It also looks great.  The turmeric in the brine gives it a lovely yellow tinge on the plate.  Another batch I made which included some red radish filled the jar with the colours of a sunset.  
2. Salmon Sashimi.  I love the flavour of raw salmon, which is oilier than Tuna or Kingfish.  It has a good bit of umami too.  
3. Tuna Sashimi.  While I concede that Blue Fin Tuna stocks worldwide are at all time lows, and that we should be reducing our intake of Tuna generally... I do enjoy a bit of raw tuna when I can get hold of it.   Salmon doesn't quite compare to the delicate flavour of tuna.  This piece was a lean part of the Tuna, not the deliciously fatty Toro section.  But it really is like eating a mouthful of the ocean.  
4. Oysters.  Medium Sydney Rocks.  Nothing better! 
5. Seaweed Salad.  A perfect accompaniment.  

Japanese Style Pickled Daikon

  Daikon is an extremely underrated vegetable. To describe it to those who haven't heard of it, it's pretty much a big, white radish, that resembles a long, white carrot, but you also see some short fat daikons - they are really quite strange looking things. Daikon is extremely versatile and adds freshness and crunch to salads and other cold dishes.   It doesn't really have a distinct flavour other than a very subtle hint of radish.

I can't get enough of sushi and sashimi, and when you go to a Japanese restaurant you often see some grated daikon adorning the side of the dish beside a clump of wasabi or some pickled ginger (which is another pickle I'd like to try to make at some stage! Any recipe suggestions?)  It also features in Korean cuisine, served on the side of Korean BBQ and fried chicken - it really cuts through the grease.

On one sushi outing to Makizo in Edgecliff, we ordered a side dish of "assorted pickles".  There were three types of pickles, all highly coloured in pink, green and yellow.  The pink and green ones were unusual to say the least, and I'm still not sure exactly what they were (I'll have to find out), but the yellow pickled daikon was a really simple, sweet and sour pickle that went perfectly with a bit of sushi.  

Making it is very easy,  especially if you have a mandolin to assist with the thin slicing of the daikon.  I concocted the pickling brine for this recipe after looking at a few recipes online.  The main difference between pickled daikon and other pickles, is that pickled daikon uses rice vinegar.  All the recipes require this ingredient.  I managed to find a small bottle of it at the New Yen Yen Supermarket in Haymarket.  You can really find any Asian ingredient there and it's suspiciously cheap.  The brine is also diluted with water, which differs from other pickles that I've made for the blog.  So this should lead to a subtler, less sour/tart result.  

Another ingredient that kept popping up in pickled daikon recipes is ginger, which makes the daikon match perfectly with the soy and wasabi that would usually accompany sushi.  Finally, turmeric is added for colour - daikon would be pretty boring on its own and colour is so important in Japanese cuisine.  

I'm yet to taste the results, as I have to wait a couple of days before eating it, but I'll report back next week.  Also I'd love to hear from readers if you have any pickling project suggestions! What should I pickle/preserve next? 

Pickled Daikon Recipe

What you need:

• 2 large daikons;
• 2 heaped tablespoons of salt;
• 1 cup of rice vinegar;
• 1 cup of water;
• 1 cup of sugar;
• 2 tablespoons of turmeric; and
• 1 thumb sized piece of ginger, julienned.

The pickling process:

1. Peel the daikons, and then slice them thinly into circular discs, preferably using a mandolin. 
2. Put the slices into a bowl and then add in the salt.  Toss the daikon in the bowl so the slices are coated in the salt. Leave the daikon for about 2 hours.  Most of the water in the daikon should be extracted by the salt.
3. While the daikon is being salted, put the water and sugar into a pot and bring it to the boil.  Dissolve the sugar so the mixture becomes a sugar syrup.  
4. Now, add in the vinegar, ginger and turmeric and leave to simmer of a low heat for a few minutes to infuse.  Remove the pickling brine off the heat. 
5. After 2 hours, strain and squeeze away the extracted water from the daikon.  This will ensure the daikon stay crispy and not floppy.  
6. Sterilise and few jars and lids, and then place the daikon into them, really packing it in.  
7. Pour the vinegar over the daikon in the jars.  Seal the jars up with the lids and refrigerate for at least two days before eating!