Bánh mì

Bánh mì

Bánh mì
Alternative names Vietnamese bread
Type bread
Place of origin Vietnam / French Indochina
Cookbook: Bánh mì  Media: Bánh mì

Bánh mì (/ˈbɑːn ˌmiː/[1][2][3][4] or /ˈbæn ˌmiː/;[5][4] Vietnamese pronunciation: [ɓǎɲ mî]) is the Vietnamese word for bread. Bread, or more specifically the baguette, was introduced by the French during the colonial period in Vietnam.[6] The bread most commonly found in Vietnamese cuisine is a single-serving baguette that is usually airier than its Western counterpart, with a thinner crust. Unlike the traditional French baguette, the Vietnamese baguette is made with rice flour along with wheat flour (see rice bread).

In Vietnamese cuisine, bánh mì is typically made into a sandwich known as bánh mì kẹp or bánh mì Sài Gòn, eaten alongside dishes such as bò kho (a beef stew) and phá lấu, or dipped in condensed milk (see Sữa Ông Thọ). In the Western Hemisphere, especially in areas with substantial Vietnamese expatriate communities, the term bánh mì is used as a synecdoche for the sandwich, which is sold in Vietnamese bakeries.

Terminology

Loaves of bánh mì at Dong Phuong Oriental Bakery in New Orleans

In Vietnamese, the word bánh mì is derived from bánh (which can refer to many kinds of food, including bread) and mì (wheat). It may also be spelled bánh mỳ in northern Vietnam. The word is likely derived from the French "pain de mie" meaning soft, white bread. Taken alone, bánh mì means "bread" but is understood to be the Vietnamese baguette. It may also refer to a sandwich (bánh mì kẹp being a more specific word), particularly the sandwiches made on Vietnamese baguettes. These sandwiches are called bánh mì Sài Gòn after the city in which they were popularized. However, even in Vietnam, "a bánh mì for breakfast" implies a meat-filled sandwich for breakfast, not just bread.

History

A bánh mì thịt nguội prepared in San Jose, California

The Vietnamese sandwich, sometimes called a "bánh mì sandwich", is a product of French colonialism in Indochina, combining ingredients from the French (baguettes, pâté, jalapeño, and mayonnaise) with native Vietnamese ingredients, such as coriander, cucumber, and pickled carrots and daikon.[7] By the 1950s, it was sold in its modern form by street vendors in Vietnam. Vietnamese communities in France began selling it in the 1950s as well.[8]

After the Fall of Saigon in 1975, Vietnamese Americans brought bánh mì sandwiches to cities across the United States, where it was sometimes likened to local sandwiches. In New Orleans, a Vietnamese sandwich is sometimes known as a "Vietnamese po' boy". For example, a bánh mì recipe won the 2009 award for best po' boy at the city's annual po' boy festival.[9] A restaurant in Philadelphia also sells a similar sandwich, marketed as a "Vietnamese hoagie".[10] In Northern California, Lê Văn Bá and his sons are credited with popularizing bánh mì among Vietnamese and non-Vietnamese Americans alike through their food truck services provider and their fast food chain, Lee's Sandwiches, beginning in the 1980s.[8]

Banh mi was added to the Oxford English Dictionary on 24 March 2011.[11][12]

Ingredients

Assembling a bánh mì

A bánh mì sandwich typically consists of one or more meats, accompanying vegetables, and condiments. Common fillings include steamed, pan-roasted or oven-roasted seasoned pork belly, Vietnamese sausage, grilled pork, grilled pork patties, spreadable pork liver pâté, pork floss, grilled chicken, chicken floss, canned sardines in tomato sauce, soft pork meatballs in tomato sauce (xíu mại), head cheese, fried eggs, mock duck, and tofu. Accompanying vegetables typically include fresh cucumber slices, cilantro (leaves of the coriander plant) and pickled carrots and white radishes in shredded form. Common condiments include spicy chili sauce, sliced chilis, Maggi seasoning sauce, mayonnaise, and cheese.[6][8]

Varieties

The most popular variety of Vietnamese sandwich is bánh mì thịt, thịt meaning "meat". Bánh mì thịt nguội (also known as bánh mì pâté chả thịt, bánh mì đặc biệt, or "special combo") is made with various Vietnamese cold cuts, such as sliced pork or pork belly, chả lụa (pork sausage), and head cheese, along with the liver pâté and vegetables like carrot or cucumbers.[13][14][15][16]

Other varieties include:

Notable vendors

Inside a Lee's Sandwiches location. Sandwich fillings for sale in the foreground; sandwich menu visible in the background.

Prior to the Fall of Saigon in 1975, well-known South Vietnamese bánh mì vendors included Bánh mì Ba Lẹ and Bánh mì Như Lan.

In regions of the United States with significant populations of Vietnamese Americans, numerous bakeries and fast food restaurants specialize in bánh mì. Lee's Sandwiches, a fast food chain with locations in several states, specializes in Vietnamese sandwiches served on French baguettes (or traditional bánh mì at some locations) as well as Western-style sandwiches served on croissants. In New Orleans, Dong Phuong Oriental Bakery is known for the bánh mì bread that it distributes to restaurants throughout the city. After 1975, Ba Lẹ owner Võ Văn Lẹ fled to the United States to found (along with Lâm Quốc Thanh) Bánh mì Ba Lê. The Eden Center shopping center in Northern Virginia has several well-known bakeries specializing in bánh mì.[6]

Mainstream U.S. fast food companies have also attempted to incorporate bánh mì and other Vietnamese dishes into their portfolios. Yum! Brands operates a chain of bánh mì cafés called Bánh Shop. The former Chipotle-owned ShopHouse Southeast Asian Kitchen chain briefly sold bánh mì.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "banh mi". OxfordDictionaries.com (British & World English). Oxford University Press. Retrieved 9 May 2017.
  2. ↑ "banh mi". OxfordDictionaries.com (North American English). Oxford University Press. Retrieved 9 May 2017.
  3. ↑ "banh mi". The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (5th ed.). Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Retrieved 9 May 2017.
  4. 1 2 "Banh Mi". Merriam-Webster. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. Retrieved 9 May 2017.
  5. ↑ "banh mi". Collins English Dictionary. HarperCollins. Retrieved 9 May 2017.
  6. 1 2 3 Nicholls, Walter (6 February 2008). "The Banh Mi of My Dreams". The Washington Post.
  7. ↑ Daniel Young. "East Meets West in 'Nam Sandwich", New York Daily News, 25 September 1996.
  8. 1 2 3 Lam, Andrew (2015). "The Marvel of Bánh Mì" (PDF). The Cairo Review of Global Affairs. American University in Cairo (18): 64–71. Retrieved 8 May 2017.
  9. ↑ "The Vietnamese Po-Boy". WWNO. July 15, 2010. Retrieved May 8, 2012.
  10. ↑ "Vietnamese Hoagies Now on the Menu". Archived from the original on 1 October 2015.
  11. ↑ "Oxford English Dictionary retrieved 2011.03.24
  12. ↑ Andy Bloxham. "Heart symbol enters Oxford English Dictionary". The Daily Telegraph, 24 March 2011.
  13. ↑ Andrea Nguyen. "Master Banh Mi Sandwich Recipe", Viet World Kitchen, retrieved 2010.04.03
  14. ↑ ROBYN ECKHARDT, Saigon's Banh Mi , Wall Street Journal, 30 July 2010
  15. ↑ "Bánh mì Sài Gòn ở Mỹ". baomoi.com. Retrieved 2 December 2015.
  16. ↑ "Bánh mì Sài gòn nức tiếng thế giới" Archived 28 January 2013 at the Wayback Machine., TuanVietNam, 2012/10/20
  17. ↑ "Sài Gòn: Mua 'vé về tuổi thơ' với bánh mì kẹp kem siêu rẻ" [Saigon: Purchase a "ticket to childhood" with super-cheap ice cream sandwiches]. Trí Thức Trẻ (in Vietnamese). Hội Trí thức Khoa học và Công nghệ Trẻ Việt Nam. 18 April 2013. Retrieved 25 March 2014.
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