Friends and food

I have this friend that I have known for literally almost 20 years by now... we have been friends since college and it just sort of stuck. She is one of the most amazing people that I know... strong, independent, fierce, and an all-around stellar human being. So I was extremely pumped that her and I have now started getting together every week on Monday evenings to cook up a storm!

This week was the first week, and there really aren't even words to describe it. The laughter and fun while prepping the meal, working side by side in my tiny condo kitchen to create a burst of flavour, colour and health. In short, it was incredible.

So we made Vietnamese lemongrass beef bánh mì sandwiches. In Vietnamese cuisine, a bánh mì is a sandwich consisting of a baguette (traditionally baked with both rice and wheat flour) filled with a variety of ingredients, typically including meat, pickled veggies and chili peppers. In other words, they are delicious.

We decided that the protein we would use was beef, so we got a wee chunk of sirloin from my butcher in the farmer's market. I wanted to use lemongrass with the beef because it is one of my favourite herbs. Lemongrass has a very fragrant smell and a slightly floral, with a sweet citrus taste. If you have never cooked with it, it's easy! Just remove a few of the outer leaves and discard, then what I did is I sort of roughed up the stalk with my chef's knife by whacking it a few times. This really releases even more of that flavour! We added all of the marinade ingredients into a bowl with the beef and let it marinate for about 45 minutes. Tossed it in the oven until it was a perfect medium-rare, then sliced it thin and piled it onto buns along with pickled veggies, my take on an Asian mayo spread, and cheese.

The look on my friend's face when she tried this was hilarious - her eyes widened, her chewing slowed, and the first words out of her mouth were "DAAAAAAMN girl! That is yummy!!"

Worth every ounce of effort that went into making this meal. It was one of the tastiest sandwiches I have made recently, and so healthy! Fully recommend that you try this one out, and don't forget to invite your friends! That makes it really easy to cook up a good time (hehehe...).

Vietnamese lemongrass beef bánh mì:

·         100 g beef, thinly sliced

·         1 lemongrass stalk, finely chopped

·         1 garlic clove, finely chopped

·         1 shallot, finely chopped

·         3 tbsp. soy sauce

·         1 tsp. pork, chicken or vegetable bouillon

·         1 tsp. sugar

·         3 small king oyster mushrooms, sliced

·         2 carrots, shredded

·         ½ daikon radish, shredded

·         5 tbsp. cider vinegar

·         5 tbsp. sugar

·         1 Vietnamese baguette or freshly baked, small French baguette

·         Butter or soft cheese

·         Cucumber, cut into 10cm slivers

·         Spring onions, thinly sliced lengthways

·         Sriracha chilli sauce (optional)

1)    To make the lemongrass beef: preheat the oven to 220 C. Mix all the ingredients in a bowl and marinate for 30 minutes. Transfer to a roasting pan and bake in the preheated oven for 20 minutes, then set aside to rest

2)    Mix all the pickle ingredients in a bowl and allow to rest for 15 minutes. Drain and wring with your hands to remove excess liquid

3)    Slit the baguette lengthways and pull out the soft doughy inside. Spread with butter or soft cheese (I used a blend of 3 tbsp. Mayonnaise + 1 tsp. Chili powder). Layer the warm beef and its juices, crumbled cheese, pickled veggies, cucumber, spring onions and chillies over the top 

4)   Serve immediately 

My kind of sandwich