cook: deux petits cochons bahn mi, part trois

I've been making bahn mi for a few years now, and I take lots of shortcuts. I don't bake. The French-Asian baguettes with a crispy flaky rice flour crust can't be baked in the dry air of California, nor do I make my own Vietnamese pork sausage or pate though I do roast pork with Asian ingredients and make the Vietnamese pickle of daikon radish and carrots.  For this weekend's sandwiches, I bought bread and pate.  I’ve been liking Trader Joe’s baguettes which are only 2 bucks a loaf and turn out very crusty when reheated in a 400 degree oven.                                       

And while buying whatever pork is on sale at the supermarket, I picked up my favorite brand of pate, of which there was only one left of the non-country style along with pork loin chops (alas no pork shoulder country ribs).

And so this afternoon when I got home from the grocery store, I rubbed the pork loin chops with Sichuan salt and then poured a garlic and lemongrass marinade before slow baking in a 350 degree oven the next day.                         

Cecilia baked petite baguettes when I told her I was making Vietnamese sandwiches. We made a bahn mi each for us and Patrick and the neighbors, which got rave reviews. Here is the last of these sandwiches I've been eating for weekday dinners. Yes, I like it overloaded with cucumbers, jalapenos and cilantro besides the two porks and do chua and Kewpie mayo and hoisin sauce.

Bonus! I've got leftover pork and pickle for rice noodle bowls, and I made a pork bone broth for noodle soups.

cook: bahn mi again, but it gets better and better each time

Before going to the ceramics studio, I gardened. That is, I removed dead foliage from my succulent pots.       

I also admired the olive tree that Meral gave Patrick and appreciated my dog sunning herself beside me.                    

And my rooftop garden in the pottery studio was a more successful attempt. Let’s hope I can finish it next Saturday. Afterwards Cecilia came over in the afternoon with baguettes, and oh heck I needed cook the pork belly, which I roasted while Cecilia grilled pork shoulder. Luckily the carrots and daikon were already pickled.   

  

The pork belly came out crispy.        

As before, I had a sandwich making station where Cecilia split the baguettes, I filled them with pate, grilled pork, roasted pork belly, Kewpie Mayo, hoisin sauce, Sriracha sauce, cucumber, jalapeños, pickled carrot and daikon salad, and cilantro.

I think I constructed 7 sandwiches total including one for myself and Patrick.                                

Fresh bread makes for a superior sandwich and has become a fun way to feed a crowd.