Hafa Adai All,

I have a very dear friend I call MOM, she is Vietnamese. She has adopted me as her own since I live so far away from my mother, she is in Ohio and I am here on Guam.

Any way, I have been devouring her Vietnamese Sandwiches for about 15 years now and am proud to say that I can eat 4 (8 inch sandwiches) in one sitting. I do not eat like a pig often but starve myself for these sandwiches whenever they are available. I noticed a few years ago that there was a growing awarness of Vietnamese Sandwiches in the states and they are being served in various cities around the US.

I was in Kansas among other places over the summer last year and found a shop that sold these sandwiches and was soarly disapointed. I couldn't bring myself to eat it. The waitstaff asked if it was OK and I said yes. I know I lied but, boy it was bad. I ask for my sandwich to go and asked to speak to the owner. So a mexican guy pops out and introduces himself as the owner. I was kinda stuned and asked him where he learned how to make a Vietnamese Sandwich. He lied to me and said he was trained in Vietnam. Said thank you and left. Threw my sandwich away in the first trash can I could find.

I know there are variations on anything that we make but isn't there,or better yet, shouldn't there be a standard? Doesn't it at least have to resemble the thing you are perporting it to be?

Has any one had a real Vietnamese Sandwich? One with the Roast pork, pork belly, cucumber, carrot and diakon pickle, green onion, cilantro, mint, basil, hot pepper, special sauce, mayo and liver pate on a crusty french loaf?  I do not gourge myself often but for these, you bet your sweet a** I will.

I made them for a golf tourney in December and they were all asking for seconds, sorry one per golfer...

My adopted mom is currently in Vietnam and I am jonesing for some of her sandwiches so I thought I would throw it out there...

Chef Kevin

Hi Chef, Check out (YOUTUBE) under Vietnamese Sandwiches. I saw a few on that site. whats nice is you can get a few peoples spin on what they are, and how they are made. I would have to say, everything your friend puts on it sounds great. I also know that, you know ,when she makes them for you, there is a lot of love included. You can't find that in a recipe......................Take care and good luck............Bill

The Banh Mi Sandwich is getting to be very popular these days.  There are many variations of this sandwich in which they change the meat.  The one you mentioned with Pork is the traditional type.  I run one on my menu with a Nauc Cham Marinated and Grilled skewer of chicken the goes on a soft hoagie roll with Sweet vinegar Diakon -carrot slaw, Sliced double smoked ham, sliced cucumber, mayo, Cilnatro, mint, and basil.  It is the number 3 seller on my menu next to Falafel, Burrito in that order at my retail Operation.  These sandwiches are alive with flavor and light.

If I am reading this correctly - the topic is authenticity - i.e. how far can you stray from a recipe/food item before it has morphed into something else.  If you make beef stroganoff with pork - is it still a traditional Russian dish?

I would say that the biggest factor is availablity of ingredients.  Can someone in Kansas get the "real" ingredients for this dish?

Food Write
The Responsible Serving of Alcoholic Beverages

I have seen confusion not just in ingredients, but in style.  I once ordered a fajita sandwich,  by description sauteed beef,  lettuce, tomato, avocado, on a flat bread.   I expected Mexican flavors in the sandwich. The meat was sauteed with teriyaki sauce. 

A couple of years later I was in the restaurant again, and  I ask how they made the fajita sandwich. "With teriyaki sauce" was the answer,  "it's a customer favorite."  And other drive-in  sandwich places have developed the fajita sandwich with teriyaki in the local area.. 

So, the locals on the dusty little stretch of road have taken a liking to this  merfed sandwich, and kept it on the menu, developing a trend or style in the region.  It was a lesson to me.

Hafa Adai All,

Bill,

You are absolutely correct! I made 300 of these bad boys for the golfers. They were made and wraped, refrigerated over night, warmed up in the morning, transported hot, and handed out. They were not the same. Every one loved them, they had the right ingredients, but they were not the same. Only a few people could actually tell the difference. Lisa ( my adopted mom) puts so much love in these sandwiches you can taste it thats for sure.

Chef G,

HHHmmmm, Falafel, Burrito and Bahn mi all on one menu? Wow.

Yes you are correct, the one I mentioned came from Bac Lui.

Beth,

That is the direction I wanted to go with this post.

If you make beef stroganoff with pork - is it still a traditional Russian dish? Of course not but if it was called Pork Stroganoff, at least people would know what to expect.

Can they get the ingredients? I should think so, there isn't any thing special with the exception of Nauc Cham, and most asian stores will carry some form of this sauce.

I like variations on the traditional, but once you go so far, can or better yet, should you still call it stroganoff? What if you made the stroganoff without meat? just noodles and sauce? Are you going to still call it Stroganoff? Or does it now become noodles with a sourcream sauce?

Nowiamone,

I do understand local variences, but, that makes it something different. It is no longer a fajita as the world knows it, it can now be called a Teriyaki Fajita and everyone including outsiders would know what to expect. to be honest with you, If I ordered a fajita and got what you describe, I probably would not take it. I was expecting a fajita and not a teriyaki flavored stir fry in my tortilla.

Chào, Kevin,

You'll find, as I'm sure you know, that there's no such thing as "one recipe" for a sandwich.  There are just variations of goodness.  I'd guess from the one you had in Kansas, it rated a 10 on the bad scale.

When we're on the road, we go to a little -- well it USED TO BE LITTLE -- Vietnamese restaurant not too far from where we lived in Virginia Beach.  I can only say from a few Vietnamese restaurants I've been to that their food was delightfully good.  I may be disappointed if I went elsewhere... I don't know.

I guess what I'm trying to say, much like a few of the others, is, "What's real?"  When I lived in Miami I used to scarf down Cuban sandwiches (not too terribly distant cousins of the báhn mi).  They're different elsewhere.  But... you've got to give people what they want and are willing to pay for, right?  Given my choice, I'd rather traditional anything rather than a watered down Angloized version.

Xem bạn chậm hơn,

I introduced Pho on our menu 12 years ago and made it with beef.  Our customers did not order it.  The moment I made an all vegetarian broth and eliminated the meat, sales went through the roof.  We made a version with chicken and curry/coconut, same thing happened.  We made a seafood version, sales took off, again.  The only version that did not sell was the beef version.  I learned that you can only be an innovator so far.  Now, Pho is prevalent on many menus here in our area.  But back twelve years ago, it was not at all, and our place was ripped on line for not having the beef variety.  I had to laugh. Being ahead of food trends comes at a price.

Being ahead of food trends comes at a price.

Well spoken, Vince.  I've often told people about working at restaurants in which we introduced "different" things.  Tapas... nope - not by that name.  Change the name, et vòila - magical sales.  Posole/Pozole - nope, not by that name.  (Servers ate it up, though).  Change the name to Southwestern soup -- SOLD OUT!

Welcome aboard, Vince.  Go over to the Meet & Greet forum and tell us about yourself.  I hope you stick around!

Ciao,