Lemongrass chicken bánh mì
45 min · 38 g protein · 414 cals / serving
The Saigon sandwich: a crackly baguette spread with sriracha mayo and stuffed with chargrilled lemongrass chicken, tangy pickled carrot and daikon, cool cucumber, a fistful of coriander and slices of hot chilli. The bread is hollowed out a little to make room for more filling, and the mayo is mostly Greek yogurt, so it is sweet, sour, salty, hot and crunchy all at once.
Ingredients
Pickles (đồ chua)
- 2 medium carrots, cut into matchsticks
- a 6-inch piece of daikon oriental radishes, cut into matchsticks
- 3 tbsp rice vinegar, in a brine with 1/2 cup warm water
- 2 1/2 tsp granulated sugar
- 1/4 tsp salt
Lemongrass chicken
- 2 boneless, skinless thighs (7 oz) chicken thigh
- 1 1/2 breasts (12 oz) chicken breast, sliced into thin escalopes
- 1 stalk lemongrass, tender centre finely minced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 shallot, minced
- 1 tbsp fish sauce
- 2 tsp brown sugar
- 1/2 tbsp reduced sodium soy sauce
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp canola oil
Sriracha mayo
- 1/3 cup nonfat Greek yogurt
- 1 1/2 tbsp light mayonnaise
- 1 tbsp sriracha hot sauce
To build
- 1 slim baguette, cut in 4 (or 4 small rolls) baguette, split and some soft crumb pulled out; the weight is what is left (about 50 g a sandwich)
- 2/3 cucumbers, in long thin strips
- a big handful of sprigs fresh cilantro
- 1–2 jalapeño, thinly sliced
Steps
- For the pickles, dissolve the sugar and salt in the vinegar and 1/2 cup warm water, add the carrot and daikon, and leave at least 30 minutes, or up to a week in the fridge. Drain before using.
- Mix the lemongrass, garlic, shallot, fish sauce, sugar, soy sauce, pepper and oil, add the chicken and marinate 30 minutes (or overnight). Grill or cook in a very hot griddle pan for 4–6 minutes a side, until charred at the edges and 165°F inside. Rest 5 minutes and slice.
- Stir the yogurt, mayonnaise and sriracha together.
- Warm the bread in a hot oven for 3–4 minutes until the crust crackles. Spread both cut sides with the sriracha mayo, then fill with chicken, drained pickles, cucumber, coriander and chilli. Eat straight away.
Good to know
Why pull out some of the crumb?
Vietnamese baguettes are airier than French ones, with a thin, crackly crust. Pulling out a little of the soft middle gets you closer to that, and leaves more room for the filling.
Can I add pâté?
Yes, liver pâté is the classic Saigon spread. Swap the mayonnaise for about 15 g of pâté a sandwich, spread thinly on one side; it comes out at about the same score.
Can I make it ahead?
Make the pickles, chicken and sauce up to 3 days ahead and build the sandwiches just before eating, since the pickles soften the bread.
Alternatives
Per
- Calories
- 127
- Protein
- (38%)
- 12 g
- Fat
- (21%)
- 3 g
- Carbohydrates
- (41%)
- 13 g
- of which sugar
- 4 g
- Fiber
- 1 g
- Sodium
- 362 mg
More meals
Computed from the ingredients with our published formula, not yet kitchen-tested. General guidance, not medical advice. Talk to your prescriber. How
As written, 1656 kcal goes into the pot and 1542 g of ingredients comes out as about 1300 g of food: 127 kcal per 100 g. Cooking moves water and energy density is the score's biggest lever, so the dish is scored as cooked, not as an average of its parts. Every ingredient links to its food page, with the same data and score. The label's percentages are each macronutrient's share of the calories. The full formula.