Exactly as I’ve done in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), I’ll be starting with a high quality French baguette. I’ll steam the bread so that it will have a moist and chewy consistency. (This is where the fun begins.) Next, I’ll sautée tender slices of beef that I’ve had marinating for over a day in my personal blend of tangy, sweet, and savory herbs and spices. This delicious sautéed beef and bánh mì baguette will be topped with crushed peanuts and presented beside a bed of herbs & vegetables – some fresh, some that I’ve pickled.

Now, as with so many Vietnamese meals, the final assembly will be yours to enjoy! Take a leaf of fresh lettuce. Place a bed of Vietnamese herbs and pickled veges into the lettuce leaf. Next, place the steamed baguette covered with my sautéed, sliced beef and crushed peanuts into the lettuce leaf atop the herbs & veges. Roll all together to create the “Bánh Mì Hấp”. Bite-by-bite, dip the now assembled roll into my homemade “nước mắm” (fish sauce ++ ) and enjoy – YUM!

When the French colonial forces withdrew from Vietnam in the 1950’s, they left behind a few “treats” still enjoyed today by Vietnamese folk in both the North & the South of Vietnam.  The hand-made cement tiles introduced into Vietnam by the French still adorn the churches, post-offices, and commercial buildings throughout the country.  [READ MORE HERE ABOUT THOSE TILES].  The coffee plantations left behind still generate a great deal of Vietnamese exports and fill the, literally, thousands of cafes throughout Vietnam with young locals and tourists alike who love the unique drip-drip-drip of Vietnamese coffee into sweetened condensed milk.  And finally, fresh & delicious Bánh Mì (french baguettes) are available morning, noon and night in Vietnam’s cities and villages. Thus, the popularity of Vietnamese Bánh Mì sandwiches,

“Bánh Mì Hấp”, tonight’s meal, however, is a Southern Vietnamese bánh mì speciality that is quite rare and difficult to find even in my home country.