My family is loving the flavors of Banh Mi. I have been pretty surprised actually with how many of them really like cucumbers, and the quick pickles veggies are our new favorite thing to throw on everything for some brightness and zing (and added veggie goodness!)
These are a re-make of the Banh Mi Sandwiches that I made a while back.
We have started making the sandwiches for dinner one day and then using all the ingredients to make a second meal in bowl form a few days later. It is a fantastic way to Cook Once, Eat Twice without it feeling like "Ugh! Leftovers.. again?"
This is really fantastic for those days when you don't have a lot of time for dinner prep - you can get the toppings ready in less than 30 minutes and feel like you spent the whole day Preparing an off the charts delicious meal.
For pork:
1 boneless pork loin
2 tablespoons fish sauce (this is probably sacrilegious, but I hate fish sauce - so I used BBQ sauce)
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 tablespoon honey
1 1/2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
1 tablespoon finely-minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon freshly-ground black pepper
Put your roast in your slow cooker and then mix all your other ingredients in a separate bowl and then pour over your roast - try and cook it on low for the 8 hours, so it can be really tender.
Pickled Veggies:
2 cups hot water
1/2 cup rice or white vinegar
3-4 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon salt, or enough to make a moderately salty brine
1/2 lb peeled and shredded carrots
1/2 lb peeled and shredded daikon radish (traditional but really hard to find - I used broccoli slaw and thought it was Fantastic! - if you just decide to use only carrots that is just fine)
To make the pickles: mix together the hot water, vinegar, sugar and salt. Stir until everything dissolves and add the carrots and daikon (if using). Let stand for at least 1 hour. Drain well before using;
For pork:
1 boneless pork loin
2 tablespoons fish sauce (this is probably sacrilegious, but I hate fish sauce - so I used BBQ sauce)
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 tablespoon honey
1 1/2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
1 tablespoon finely-minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon freshly-ground black pepper
Put your roast in your slow cooker and then mix all your other ingredients in a separate bowl and then pour over your roast - try and cook it on low for the 8 hours, so it can be really tender.
Then I took the hot noodles that I drained and tossed them in with some sauce that the pork cooked in. I just spooned the sauce over the noodles until I felt like they were covered well. I wasn't actually trying to make them "saucy".
Layer your noodles in the bottom of your bowls and then top with your meat, pickles carrots / broccoli, add cilantro and cucumber. (We didn't have any jalapeno - and I kinda missed it - I think the little kids were okay without)
In choosing to cook this way, I end up being able to allow everyone to put the things they want / don't want in their bowls and this ends up with a few no-pressure moments where we try new things we didn't even know we were going to love - like Cucumbers!
