BBQ Pork Banh Mi / Bánh Mi Xá Xíu

The last time I visited Vietnam was back in 2008, and I was staying with a relative near Ho Chi Minh City. My aunt and uncle lived on a busy street above their storefront, surrounded by other shops, restaurants, and food hawkers with push carts.
Right in front of their house was a lady selling Vietnamese sandwiches, and she only sold one type of bánh mi; a bbq pork banh mi, filled with bright red xá xíu, fresh herbs and veggies in between baguettes that she had baked earlier in the morning.
My mom actually told me that she had been selling sandwiches at this very spot for over twenty-five years, and when we lived in Vietnam, my family would buy sandwiches from her regularly.

Needless to say that, bánh mi was delicious, and the star of the show was the fragrant xá xíu. My recipe is an homage to that!

The main difference between my recipe, is the exclusion of red dye 40, and we’re using fermented red bean curd as a natural food coloring instead.

With any of my bánh mi recipes, make sure you check out my đo chua recipe to learn how to make the pickled veggies!