Banh Mi Takeout

Yesterday was an unofficial cheat day for me in at least two ways.  First, I bought dinner instead of making it.  Second, bread and sweets are not exactly ideal foods for losing weight.  However, it's important to sensibly indulge occasionally.

While researching Vietnamese food, I kept coming across Banh Mi, which are a type of Vietnamese sandwiches.  Being a huge fan of bread and not having had it for a while, I decided to find a local restaurant and try Banh Mi.

The first restaurant I tried was closed, but I found another not too far away.  The Banh Mi on the menu were only three dollars each, so I decided to try one each of vegetarian, grilled chicken, and barbeque pork.  As good as they were for dinner warm, the leftovers were just as great for breakfast this morning.

The sandwiches are served warm and have all kinds of tasty and interesting ingredients: a pickled carrot and daikon mixture (daikon is a mild member of the radish family), cilantro, cucumber, fish sauce mixed with mayo (I think).  There were even a couple of hot spots that tasted like jalapeno, but warmer.  It was a bit of a shock to my mouth, but the fire subsided after a few minutes.  I'm anxious to have these again!


The deli where I purchased the Banh Mi was also a bakery and had some Vietnamese desserts for sale.  How could I resist.  To be honest, I didn't know what these items were when I bought them, but they looked interesting so I gave them a try.  I've looked for them on the internet and asked a couple of friends and here is what I think they are....

• Above, Top Right -- Banh Bo Nuong.  It was my favourite and hard to describe.  I think it's also made with pandan leaf and has a texture half way between cake and jelly.  It's very good.
• Above, Bottom Right -- a center of mung bean paste with a very firm jelly shell that I think is made with pandan leaf.
• Above, Top Right -- a mung bean paste/pate.  This was mild flavoured, not sweet, but not savoury either.  It may not have been a dessert. 
• Below -- I believe this is a savoury version of Banh Bong Lan which is a sponge cake.  This one had onion and thinly sliced jalapenos. The combination of the slightly sweet cake and the onion was amazing.