Chicken Banh Mi Sandwiches

Open wide!

Little Ms.' trip to PAT Central led to a fridge full of Asian ingredients, so here is riff off of a Vietnamese sandwich, the banh mi. These traditional sandwiches are trendy now. Little Ms. isn't one to pretend that she didn't conduct a Google search while writing this post, and therefore, she will direct you to good old Wikipedia for more info on the banh mi.
This particular version of the sandwich was inspired by Little Ms.' love for the pickled dikon and carrot that often accompany dishes ordered at your local pho restaurant, and the fact that Little Ms. found dikon at PAT Central. Inspiration was moved to action by the 3/4 of a lbs of ground chicken kicking around in the Ms./Mr. fridge from yesterdays Kimchi Burritos.
Little Ms. was certain that she got the idea for a banh mi made out of a meat-ball type form from watching an episode of Eat St. featuring an awesome food truck called Great Balls on Tires. However, there does not appear to be a Vietnamese inspired ball on that food trucks's menu, so, either it was an "Odd Ball" or, Little Ms. is having a crazy moment.
Either way, these sandwiches were really great, although Big Mr. felt that there was a lot of bread. Little Ms. would have to agree - the bread, a Calabrese-style loaf from Cob's Bread, was a little dense. Little Ms. would suggest a traditional French baguette next time.

Chicken Banh Mi

Pickled Carrots and Daikon

While conducting research for this blog post, Little Ms. discovered that traditionally this condiment/topping is shredded. Who knew?! Little Ms. put her knife skills to work and julienned these veggies. Shredding or using a mandaloin would would make this quick pickle come together very quickly.

1/2 dikon raddish, julienned or shredded
2 carrots, julienned or shredded
1/2 cup rice wine vinegar
2 tbsp sugar
t tsp salt

Mix together vinegar, sugar and salt in food storage container (preferably glass - this dikon smells funky after its sat for a few days and the smell may linger in a plastic container). Add julienned veggies to the vinegar mixture, toss to coat. Cover container and refrigerate for an hour or up to 2 days. If you veggies are cut larger, they will need longer to pickle. 

Meat "balls"

Rather than make these into actual balls, I made oblong shaped patties the same size as the bread, so that there was more room for toppings on the sandwiches.

3/4 lbs extra lean ground chicken
1 scallion, finely chopped (very finely - remember Big Mr.'s dislike of onions)
the steams from 3/4 branches of cilantro, chopped very finely
1 tbsp Thai basil, chopped finely
1 tbsp fresh mint, chopped finely
1 clove of garlic, grated using a rasp
1 inch piece of ginger, peeled and grated using a rasp
1 tsp sirracha chili sauce
1 tsp soya sauce
1 tsp toasted sesame oil
2 tbsp dry bread crumbs
2 tbsp grape seed oil

Mix all of the above ingredients, with the exception of the grape seed oil, into the ground chicken. Form the mixture into patties about 2 cm thick, 4/5 cm wide and 10 cm long. The mixture will be very tacky. Do not panic! Place the patties one a tray and coat each patty in grape seed oil. This adds necessary fat to these lean chicken patties and makes them easier to handle when they are grilled.

Preheat the BBQ to high. Once the BBQ is hot, place patties on the grill and cook over high heat for about 3 minutes each side. Once you put the patties on the grill, WALK AWAY! The key to great grill marks and great seared-in BBQ flavour is NOT to play with the meat once it is on the BBQ. You'll know when the patties are ready to flip when the meat releases itself from the grill easily when you slide a spatula underneath.

Check out those grill marks!

Once the patties are cooked through, remove from the grill. When working with chicken, Little Ms. always cuts into the thickest patty to ensure that everything is cooked all the way through. No one likes salmonella.

Toppings and assembly

Pickled carrots and daikon, above
3 tbsp mayo, mixed with 1 - 2 tsp sirracha chili sauce
1/2 a ripe avocado, sliced

I served my Banh Mis with a grilled bok choy salad...

1/2 cup cilantro leaves
1/2 cup watercress
a few leaves of fresh mint
a French demi-baguette, sliced in half lengthwise and toasted on the grill

To assemble the sandwiches, spread each side of the toasted bread with sirracha mayo. Place toppings of choice on the bread along with chicken patties and enjoy! As always, all toppings are optional, so style as you will.