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The term Banh Mi actually means bread in Vietnamese. The traditional Banh Mi sandwich consists of a french baguette with mayonnaise, cucumber, pickled carrots and daikon, cilantro with a protein, such as sliced pork.
I chose to do a spicy, Korean marinated shrimp to pair well with the sweet and bitter taste of the pickled carrots/daikon and to use the same marinate to make a spicy aioli instead of the normal mayo!
Shrimp Banh Mi
Ingredients
- 2 small French baguettes about 6 inches in length
- 8 shrimp peeled, deveined and tails removed
- 1 medium cucumber sliced lengthwise into 4 slices
- 1 carrot peeled and julienned
- 1 daikon peeled and julienned (this is a Japanese radish--it looks like a white carrot)
- 1/4 cup brown rice vinegar
- 1/8 cup sugar
- 2 tablespoons mayonnaise
- Fresh cilantro to taste
- 1 jalapeño pepper sliced thin
For marinade:
- 1 tablespoon gochujang Korean pepper paste
- 1/2 tablespoon sesame oil
- 1/4 teaspoon fish sauce
- 1/2 tablespoon water
- 1/2 tablespoon sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon brown rice vinegar
- 2 garlic cloves minced
Instructions
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Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
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Mix all the ingredients for the marinade in a bowl until the sugar dissolves. Set aside 1 tablespoon of the marinade into a separate bowl. Add the shrimp into the bowl with the remaining marinade. Using your hands or a spoon, mix until the shrimp are fully coated with marinade.
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While the shrimp marinates, make the pickled carrots and daikon. In a mixing bowl, combine the vinegar and sugar until the sugar has dissolved. Add the carrots and daikon into the bowl and mix and set aside.
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In a cast iron skillet (or sauté pan) on medium-high heat, cook shrimp for 4-5 minutes, or until cooked all the way through.
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While the shrimp are cooking, slice the baguettes and place right on the rack in the oven for a few minutes to toast. Make the spicy aioli by mixing 2 tablespoons of mayonnaise into the reserved 1 tablespoon of marinade.
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Once the bread is slightly toasted, assemble the sandwich: start by putting the spicy aioli onto both sides of the bread, then add the cucumbers, pickled carrots and daikon, fresh cilantro, jalapeños, and shrimp
