Thursday, September 23, 2010

Cooking the Florida Market: Banh Mi Edition

I made two types of banh mi entirely with ingredients available at the Florida Market. For the uninitiated a banh mi is a delicious Vietnamese sandwich served on a French style baguette. Here are the two types that I made:

Chicken Banh Mi:
-boneless skinless chicken breast brined, rubbed with five spice powder, and sautéed in sesame oil
-cucumber
-daikon radish and carrot marinated in white vinegar, sugar and water solution
-green onions
-red onion
-cilantro
-garlic
-mayo
-fish sauce
-baguette (I bought the "French Baguette" from MS3000, but it was a tad too bready, so I fixed this by scooping out some of the bread.)
You can also add chicken liver pate if you wish. Livers are available at the DC farmers market, and various other butchers in the area. Just add some fresh herbs, butter, pepper, and garlic, and you're basically there.

Tofu Banh Mi
-tofu marinated in soy sauce, sesame oil, garlic, lime juice, fresh lemon grass, ground black pepper. (I pressed and frozen the tofu before hand to change the texture and make it absorb the marinade better).
-cilantro
-Thai basil
-cucumber
-marinated carrots and daikon radish
-mayo
-fish sauce
-garlic
-jalapeno peppers
-green onions
-red onions
-baguette
You can make this sandwich vegan by using Veganaise (not available in the Florida Market), and making your own vegan fish sauce substitute (dark soy sauce, water, garlic, black pepper, dried roasted seaweed).


Where to get it:
Baguette: MS3000 or Litteri's.
Carrots: Sam Wang, Mexican Fruit.
Chicken: US Beef, DC Farmers Market, numerous butchers in the area, including Caribbean Crescent.
Cilantro: Sam Wang or Mexican Fruit.
Cucumber: Sam Wang or Mexican Fruit.
Dark soy sauce: MS3000.
Daikon Radish: Sam Wang or MS3000.
Fish Sauce: V-9 or MS3000.
Five spice powder: MS3000.
Garlic: Sam Wang or Mexican Fruit.
Green onions: Sam Wang or Mexican Fruit.
Jalapeno peppers: Sam Wang or Mexican Fruit.
Lemon grass: Sam Wang.
Limes: Sam Wang or Mexican Fruit.
Mayo: MS3000.
Pepper (whole, black): Mexican Fruit, or Don Pepe's.
Red onion: Sam Wang or Mexican Fruit.
Seaweed: Northeastern Seafood, V-9, MS3000.
Sesame oil: MS3000.
Sugar: MS3000.
Thai Basil: Sam Wang.
Tofu: Sam Wang Tofu (down the street from the main Sam Wang).
White Vinegar: MS3000.

Need guidance on putting it all together? Check out Battle of the Banh Mi.

3 Comments:

Blogger Reuben said...

Hi... Thanks for this post! I am a great fan of the Florida Mkt and was delighted to find this Blog on topic. Most of the activity on this Blog seems to have ended back in 2006 but now I see a Sept. 2010 entry! Is this Blog active?? I hope it is.

Thanks Reuben
Reubenvabner@gmail.com

10/25/2010 1:28 PM  
Anonymous Sunny Florida Avenue said...

I hope so too! I think cooking with Market ingredients could be a great running narrative.

11/12/2010 10:59 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I am looking to get some canned, dry, frozen, etc. Asian products. I am a student at CUA. Any close Asian markets you recommend?

treschicchef@gmail.com

1/15/2011 3:56 PM  

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