I love chicken Bahn Mi, no two ways about it. Here is a web site that
tells you how to make Bahn Mi. http://battleofthebanhmi.com/ I can't
begin to say how important the right bread is. Like the text says,
you need Viet style french baguette. If you can find that, you're in
business. If you can't, don't bother. I've eaten Bahn Mil on regular
french baguette and on Viet style baguette. Viet is better.

--
I love cooking with wine.
Sometimes I even put it in the food.

sf wrote:
> I love chicken Bahn Mi, no two ways about it. Here is a web site that
> tells you how to make Bahn Mi. http://battleofthebanhmi.com/ I can't
> begin to say how important the right bread is. Like the text says,
> you need Viet style french baguette. If you can find that, you're in
> business. If you can't, don't bother. I've eaten Bahn Mil on regular
> french baguette and on Viet style baguette. Viet is better.

Houston had so many Vietnamese bakeries, that is one thing I miss here
living here in Louisiana.


Becca

On 12/15/2009 05:44, sf wrote:
>
> I love chicken Bahn Mi, no two ways about it. Here is a web site that
> tells you how to make Bahn Mi. http://battleofthebanhmi.com/ I can't
> begin to say how important the right bread is. Like the text says,
> you need Viet style french baguette. If you can find that, you're in
> business. If you can't, don't bother. I've eaten Bahn Mil on regular
> french baguette and on Viet style baguette. Viet is better.
>

Agree on the bread but pork is the other thing that "makes" a banh mi. A
banh mi with chicken is definitely an ersatz banh mi.

On 12/15/2009 08:36, Becca wrote:
> sf wrote:
>> I love chicken Bahn Mi, no two ways about it. Here is a web site that
>> tells you how to make Bahn Mi. http://battleofthebanhmi.com/ I can't
>> begin to say how important the right bread is. Like the text says,
>> you need Viet style french baguette. If you can find that, you're in
>> business. If you can't, don't bother. I've eaten Bahn Mil on regular
>> french baguette and on Viet style baguette. Viet is better.
>
> Houston had so many Vietnamese bakeries, that is one thing I miss here
> living here in Louisiana.
>
> Becca

Same here. They are easy to make but it is getting harder to find a good
roll. But I travel to both NYC & Philly frequently so I can get my fix.

Sqwertz wrote:
> Austin had one Banh Mi deli in 2001. That closed down and we didn't
> have any for 3 years. In the past 4 years we have 6 or 7.
>
> I'm really surprised there aren't any in LA with the
> French-Vietnamese connection. Cafe du Monde and French Market are
> often considered to be *the* Vietnamese coffees. And many of the
> Cafe du Monde franchises are owned/staffed by Vietnamese.
>
> -sw
>

You are right about the employees of Cafe du Monde in New Orleans, they
are Vietnamese.


Becca

On Dec 15, 9:12*am, Sqwertz > wrote:
> On Tue, 15 Dec 2009 09:13:07 -0500, George wrote:
> > Agree on the bread but pork is the other thing that "makes" a banh mi. A
> > banh mi with chicken is definitely an ersatz banh mi.
>
> Chicken is definitely the oddball. *But all places do their meats
> slightly differently, so maybe she goes to one where the chicken
> beats the pork.
>
> -sw

*snort*

On Tue, 15 Dec 2009 09:13:07 -0500, George wrote:

> On 12/15/2009 05:44, sf wrote:
>>
>> I love chicken Bahn Mi, no two ways about it. Here is a web site that
>> tells you how to make Bahn Mi. http://battleofthebanhmi.com/ I can't
>> begin to say how important the right bread is. Like the text says,
>> you need Viet style french baguette. If you can find that, you're in
>> business. If you can't, don't bother. I've eaten Bahn Mil on regular
>> french baguette and on Viet style baguette. Viet is better.
>>
>
> Agree on the bread but pork is the other thing that "makes" a banh mi. A
> banh mi with chicken is definitely an ersatz banh mi.

i'd settle for a mediocre bahn mi in the neighborhood.

your pal,
blake

On Tue, 15 Dec 2009 09:13:07 -0500, George >
wrote:

>On 12/15/2009 05:44, sf wrote:
>>
>> I love chicken Bahn Mi, no two ways about it. Here is a web site that
>> tells you how to make Bahn Mi. http://battleofthebanhmi.com/ I can't
>> begin to say how important the right bread is. Like the text says,
>> you need Viet style french baguette. If you can find that, you're in
>> business. If you can't, don't bother. I've eaten Bahn Mil on regular
>> french baguette and on Viet style baguette. Viet is better.
>>
>
>Agree on the bread but pork is the other thing that "makes" a banh mi. A
>banh mi with chicken is definitely an ersatz banh mi.

Chicken is *my* favorite meat for a banh mi. YMMV

--
I love cooking with wine.
Sometimes I even put it in the food.

On 2009-12-15, George > wrote:

> Agree on the bread but pork is the other thing that "makes" a banh mi. A
> banh mi with chicken is definitely an ersatz banh mi.


There's nothing ersatz about a chicken banh mi. Even the most
authentic shops supply it. The problem with chicken is, Viet's prefer
to leave the gristle in! The Viet cow orker that introduced me to
banh mi's preferred chicken and the first one I ordered was chicken.
I about gagged on a big ol' gnarly chunk of gristle and was going to
return it until my friend told me that's normal. I've been a pork fan
ever since. The sardine one's are pretty good, too.

nb

On 2009-12-15, sf > wrote:

> business. If you can't, don't bother. I've eaten Bahn Mil on regular
> french baguette and on Viet style baguette. Viet is better.

Agreed. Lee's Sandwiches, which is a huge chain, now, makes 'em with
French baguettes and it's jes not right. Gotta use the real Viet
baguettes which have a softer crust.

What's the avg price on a banh mi, these days, sf? It was about
$1.50-1.75 for good one's when I moved a couple yrs back.

nb

On Tue, 15 Dec 2009 19:24:32 GMT, notbob > wrote:

>
>There's nothing ersatz about a chicken banh mi. Even the most
>authentic shops supply it. The problem with chicken is, Viet's prefer
>to leave the gristle in! The Viet cow orker that introduced me to
>banh mi's preferred chicken and the first one I ordered was chicken.
>I about gagged on a big ol' gnarly chunk of gristle and was going to
>return it until my friend told me that's normal.

Huh? I've never had that experience. Maybe they take out the tendons
for round eyed customers; maybe your friend ordered it and you got the
"ethnic" version. I really dunno. Mine seems to be thigh, not leg
meat.

>I've been a pork fan ever since.

Hubby prefers pork too... but he always has, he started off with pork.
I've tried it and prefer the flavor of chicken.


--
I love cooking with wine.
Sometimes I even put it in the food.

On Tue, 15 Dec 2009 19:31:35 GMT, notbob > wrote:

>On 2009-12-15, sf > wrote:
>
>> business. If you can't, don't bother. I've eaten Bahn Mil on regular
>> french baguette and on Viet style baguette. Viet is better.
>
>Agreed. Lee's Sandwiches, which is a huge chain, now, makes 'em with
>French baguettes and it's jes not right. Gotta use the real Viet
>baguettes which have a softer crust.
>
>What's the avg price on a banh mi, these days, sf? It was about
>$1.50-1.75 for good one's when I moved a couple yrs back.
>
Figure $3. It was $2.75 for a long time, but they raised the price
this year. My local restaurant seems to be pretty much on target with
the rest of SF when it comes to the price of bahn mi, but YMMV if
you're out of the City. Paying the rent has a lot to do with menu
pricing here.

--
I love cooking with wine.
Sometimes I even put it in the food.

On 2009-12-15, sf > wrote:

> Figure $3. It was $2.75 for a long time, but they raised the price
> this year. My local restaurant seems to be pretty much on target with
> the rest of SF when it comes to the price of bahn mi, but YMMV if
> you're out of the City. Paying the rent has a lot to do with menu
> pricing here.

Good point. I'm talking pretty much EBay, mostly Milpitas area, which
has a lotta Viet shops. Still, I'm sure prices are up, even there.
I'd expect to see $2-2.50 range. OTOH, I know gas prices really hit
hard in SFBA and those increases were above and beyond normal COL
increases and not likely to decrease like supermarket prices have
been doing (at least, here). Maybe Ranger will weigh in.

nb

Sqwertz wrote:
> Are there no banh mi in N.O. either? There must be some sort of
> unwritten law, probably enforced by the po boy mafia.
>
> Ironically, some of the Vietnamese restaurants/delis here serve po
> boys (usually seafood of some sort - shrimp or oyster are common)
>
> -sw
>


There is one banh mi in New Orleans, Banh Mi Sao Mai. There are two
restaurants that serve banh mi, Pho Tau Bay and Tan Dinh. There is a
Vietnamese bakery called Dong Phuong, it is located between NOLA and
Slidell, which is too far from where I live. That area has an enclave
of Vietnamese people.


Becca

sf wrote:
>
> Hubby prefers pork too... but he always has, he started off with pork.
> I've tried it and prefer the flavor of chicken.

Pork is my favorite, but I like chicken, too. My Vietnamese coworkers
said it was rare for them to have chicken in Vietnam, but they did have
beef, pork and seafood. When we have pho, I prefer chicken over beef,
but they said they never had pho ga in Vietnam. That really puzzles me,
because chickens are so easy to raise.


Becca

"notbob" > wrote in message
...
> On 2009-12-15, sf > wrote:
>
>> Figure $3. It was $2.75 for a long time, but they raised the price
>> this year. My local restaurant seems to be pretty much on target with
>> the rest of SF when it comes to the price of bahn mi, but YMMV if
>> you're out of the City. Paying the rent has a lot to do with menu
>> pricing here.
>
> Good point. I'm talking pretty much EBay, mostly Milpitas area, which
> has a lotta Viet shops. Still, I'm sure prices are up, even there.
> I'd expect to see $2-2.50 range. OTOH, I know gas prices really hit
> hard in SFBA and those increases were above and beyond normal COL
> increases and not likely to decrease like supermarket prices have
> been doing (at least, here). Maybe Ranger will weigh in.
>
> nb
>
>
$2.25 - $2.75 in the Oakland Chinatown.

Kent

"Sqwertz" > wrote in message
...
> On Tue, 15 Dec 2009 02:44:32 -0800, sf wrote:
>
>> I love chicken Bahn Mi, no two ways about it.
>
> Grilled Pork is *the* filling. This is that distinctly Vietnamese
> "grilled" taste you get from nuoc mau with a slightly sweet and very
> savory finish from palm sugar and fish sauce.
>
> -sw
>
>
All the SF Bay Area Bahn Mi joints have chicken, usually grilled, as one of
the banh mi options.

Kent

On 2009-12-15, Kent > wrote:

> $2.25 - $2.75 in the Oakland Chinatown.

In line with what I guestimated. Thanks, Kent.

nb

sf wrote:
> I love chicken Bahn Mi, no two ways about it. Here is a web site that
> tells you how to make Bahn Mi. http://battleofthebanhmi.com/ I can't
> begin to say how important the right bread is. Like the text says,
> you need Viet style french baguette. If you can find that, you're in
> business. If you can't, don't bother. I've eaten Bahn Mil on regular
> french baguette and on Viet style baguette. Viet is better.
>

Nice link... and thanks! I'm still reading.

"Bob Muncie" > wrote in message
...
> sf wrote:
>> I love chicken Bahn Mi, no two ways about it. Here is a web site that
>> tells you how to make Bahn Mi. http://battleofthebanhmi.com/ I can't
>> begin to say how important the right bread is. Like the text says,
>> you need Viet style french baguette. If you can find that, you're in
>> business. If you can't, don't bother. I've eaten Bahn Mil on regular
>> french baguette and on Viet style baguette. Viet is better.
>>
>
> Nice link... and thanks! I'm still reading.
>
>
It's a nice site, though on this site some of the Bahn Mi are being made
with baguettes, rather than the mandatory bahn mi bun. The bun is very
important.

On Sat, 02 Jan 2010 19:25:00 -0500, Bob Muncie >
wrote:

>sf wrote:
>> I love chicken Bahn Mi, no two ways about it. Here is a web site that
>> tells you how to make Bahn Mi. http://battleofthebanhmi.com/ I can't
>> begin to say how important the right bread is. Like the text says,
>> you need Viet style french baguette. If you can find that, you're in
>> business. If you can't, don't bother. I've eaten Bahn Mil on regular
>> french baguette and on Viet style baguette. Viet is better.
>>
>
>Nice link... and thanks! I'm still reading.

WB, glad you took a break. Hope you had a great holiday season.

--
I love cooking with wine.
Sometimes I even put it in the food.