Australia runs on sausage rolls. Vietnam runs on bánh mì. This is both. Same pork mix as the bánh mì burger, a line of pâté under it, puff pastry around it, chilli crunch over the top. The pickle is not a garnish. It is the thing that cuts the fat, so make it first.
45 minutes, plus 30 for the pickle. Makes 12.
Ingredients
- 600g pork mince, not too lean
- 3 cloves garlic, grated
- 4 spring onions, chopped fine
- 1 tbsp fish sauce
- 1 tsp white pepper
- 100g coarse pork pâté, out of the fridge an hour before
- 2 sheets butter puff pastry, thawed
- 1 egg, beaten
- 3 dessertspoons Plateit Chilli Crunch
- Kewpie mayonnaise, cucumber batons and coriander, to serve
Đồ chua (the pickle)
- 1 large carrot
- 200g daikon
- 1 tsp salt
- 125ml rice vinegar
- 2 tbsp caster sugar
Method
- Pickle first. Cut the carrot and daikon into matchsticks, a bit thicker than you think. Toss with the salt, leave 10 minutes, then squeeze the water out hard. Warm the vinegar and sugar until the sugar goes, pour it over, leave 30 minutes. Keeps a fortnight in the fridge and gets better.
- Heat the oven to 200C. Line two trays.
- Mix the pork with garlic, spring onion, fish sauce and white pepper. Fry a teaspoon of it to taste for salt before you roll anything.
- Cut each pastry sheet in half. Spread a thin line of pâté down the long edge, lay a log of mince on top of it, roll over and seal with egg. Seam underneath.
- Chill the rolled logs 10 minutes, then cut each into three. Egg wash the tops.
- Bake 25 to 30 minutes until the pastry is deep gold and the base is cooked through, not pale.
- Chilli crunch spooned over as they come out, coriander on top. Đồ chua, cucumber and mayo on the side, not on the rolls.
Tip: the pâté is what makes it a bánh mì rather than a sausage roll with pickle next to it. Do not skip it, and do not spread it thick or the pastry base goes soggy.
