Bahn Mi

for generous 4. You don't want the best stoneground sour dough baguettes for these - bog standard supermarket ones

Ingredients

for the roast pork belly: 1kg pork belly with skin; 1 Tbsp sea salt; 1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar

for the marinade: 1 tsp garlic powder; ½ tsp salt; ½ tsp chinese 5 spice powder; 1½ tsp soy sauce

for the carrot pickle: 1 carrot, peeled and julienned; juice of ½ lime; 1 tsp caster sugar

for the garnishes: coriander leaves; cucumber, seeded and cut into thin strips approx 10cm long; spring onions cut lengthwise into strips; red chilli cut into slices; butter optional; mayonnaise optional; soy sauce, hot sauce or hoisin sauce optional

Mix all the marinade ingredients together
Score the skin of the pork belly with a sharp knife about 1cm apart. Put in a container skin side uppermost and pour boiling water all over. Allow to stand for 5 minutes. Drain and repeat. This removes some excess fat etc and helps to get the skin crispy. Drain and dry with kitchen paper.
Turn the pork over and rub in the marinade on the meat side only. Turn over and sprinkle salt on the skin and rub in the cider vinegar. Set aside for at least 2 hours.
Heat the oven tp 220℃. Dry pork of any excess liquid and pat dry with kitchen paper. Roast the pork for 50 minutes - or longer if skin not fully crisp yet. This is probably best done on a rack else the bottom of the pork fries in the fat that is released from the belly. set aside and allow to cool
Pickle the carrot by mixing with sugar and lime juice
Prepare the garnishes
Once pork has cooled slice into 1cm widths.
Assemble by removing the middle dough from lengths of baguette that have been halved lengthways. Spread with butter or mayonnaise if you like, add pork, pickle and garnishes to taste, and add sauces to taste.

pork belly vietnamese

Vietnamese baguette with crispy pork belly

Vietnamese baguette with crispy pork belly