A Bahn Mi is the original fusion street food. The sandwich came to be during the period of time that France had colonized Vietnam and the cross-cultural culinary adventures began. While the original sandwich has come a long way it usually was a crusty French roll (actually wheat bread), a smear of patê, and mayo topped with southeast asian veggies like cilantro, daikon radish, cucumber and carrot. The type of meat used has varied over the years as this street food evolved. This recipe is my own version of the sandwich as a weeknight meal – a Pork Meatball Bahn Mi will be a hit in your home.
The reason I went with the meatball is because it makes this dish so much more accessible for a weeknight. Do not get me wrong, I love slow roasting some pork to make a more succulent Pork Bahn Mi . Taking those flavors and mixing them into a meatball makes it so much easier to serve up on a random weeknight. Also kids will try way more things as a meatball, plain and simple.
Substitutes and Variations:
If you do not want to have the spicy mayo – you could just use mayo on it’s own. You do need some sort of sauce to hold everything together, as the meatballs can be a slightly dry on their own. You can also swap out the ground pork for basically any other ground meat. Bahn Mi is a style of sandwich. While it is most often made with pork, you can really put any protein on there – even some crispy fried shrimp goes good with these flavors.
Suggestions for Sides:
I really like to serve these sandwiches up with some super crispy tater tots. They are so fun to eat and they taste so good with a little of the spicy mayo. This is a really hefty sandwich so you may or may not need a side item. You can also do some kettle style potato chips for a quicker option.
Tools that may make this recipe easier:
You really need a few kitchen staples to make this dish the best version. A grill pan for toasting the bread. A food scoop for making good portioned meatballs – having them cook evenly is key. And then a baking rack and sheet pan combo for baking up the meatballs.
Now Let’s Get Cookin’!
Pork Meatball Bahn Mi
Ingredients
- 6 6 inch French Baguette
- 1 Jalapeno sliced
- 1 English Cucumber cut in half and then thinly slice lengthwise
- ¾ cup Mayonnasie
- ½ cup Sriracha
- Cooking Spray
For the Pork Meatballs
- 2 lb Ground Pork
- 2 tbsp Lemongrass minced
- 2 tbsp Oil
- 2 tbsp Rice Vinegar
- 1 tbsp Grated Ginger
- 1 tsp Salt
- 1 tsp White Pepper
- 1 cup Panko Bread Crumbs
For the Daikon Slaw
- 1 cup Shredded Carrots
- 1 cup Shredded Cabbage
- 1 Lemon juice and zest
- 1 cup Shredded Daikon Radish
- ½ Red Onion thinly sliced
- ½ cup Fresh Cilantro chopped
- ¼ cup Oil
- ¼ cup Rice Vinegar
- 1 tsp Salt
- 1 tsp Pepper
- 1 tsp Ground Ginger
Instructions
- Preheat over to 400degF.
- In a bowl, combine ingredients for the daikon slaw. Thoroughly mix together then cover and place in refrigerator until ready to build the sandwiches.
- Add all ingredients for the pork meatballs to a mixing bowl and thoroughly combine. Using a 1½-inch food scoop, form the mixture into meatballs. Then line them out over a baking rack on a parchment paper covered baking sheet. Bake for 35 minutes.
- In another smaller bowl, add mayonnaise and sriracha and mix thoroughly. If you have a squeeze bottle, add spicy mayo to bottle and place in refrigerator until ready to make sandwiches.
- Over medium high heat, heat up grill pan or frying pan. Cut each baguette in half and spray each side with cooking spray. Grill each piece of bread and set aside.
- Add 5-6 meatballs to bottom bread, add 4-5 slices of cucumber, then a portion of slaw, drizzle with spicy mayo, a few jalapenos slices and place top bread on. Use two long toothpicks to secure the sandwich, then slice in half.
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This sounds amazing! The fresh jalapeños look refreshing on it!