Build Your Own Gourmet Bánh Mì

Bánh Mì made from SF Ferry Building ingredients

Boccalone charcuterie

In San Francisco, more and more restaurants are offering house-made charcuterie plates filled with salty cured meats, pâtés, and a little pickled accompaniment. Recently, I’ve enjoyed Perbacco’s Italian Salumi Misti plate (heavy on the salamis) and Spruce’s French-influenced selection (different pig parts and pâtés). A small bite of salty meat with livery pâté and pickled veg atop a crostini is culinary perfection to me. But as I savor my little morsel of goodness, I can’t help but think what a pimped out, gourmet bánh mì I could make with a spread like this.

I’ve been enjoying bánh mì since I was a kid when they were $1 in San Jose, when there were only a handful of shops to get bánh mì (and phở for that matter) in the 1980s. I consider myself a purist, using the classic #1 thịt người as my gauge for a good bánh mì spot. More popular selections seem to be grilled pork and chicken nowadays, but even as a kid I knew this French influenced charcuterie combo was something special. My mom would order me pâté sandwiches straight up– pâté, mayo, and sprinkling of soy sauce. What 8 year-old-kid loves livery sandwiches?

On my quest to build a gourmet bánh mì, I originally wanted to pick up some meat from either Spruce or Perbacco since they both offer take-home meats. But then I’d have to go somewhere else for some baguettes. Instead, I decided to shop at San Francisco’s Ferry Plaza Farmers Market on a Saturday morning so that I could pick up all ingredients in one place. This famous farmers market is the mecca of high quality, fresh, local products. Living in SF, I’m constantly reminded of the importance of “farm to table” cooking, but this ideology definitely comes at a premium. One of the original high end (ahem, expensive) Vietnamese restaurants Slanted Door is located at the Ferry Building. Their Out the Door takeout counter offers bánh mì for $8.50+tax!

Bánh Mì đặc biệt

Fatted Calf pâté

I really had no idea how expensive a sandwich I would make using the fancy ingredients but after perusing the farmers market stalls as well as shops inside the Ferry Building, I realized I could build a gourmet banh mi for less than OTD’s offerings (they do not offer a thịt người type bánh mì). First, I decided on meat fillings from Boccalone, SF cheflebrity Chris Cosentino’s salumeria. You can buy their cured meats individually, but I bought a small tray of 3 meats for $8.75: Prosciutto Cotto (ham), Pancetta (rolled pork belly), and Coppa di Testa (headcheese, a must!). I can’t believe how much these meats remind me of what was offered when I was a kid. At the bánh mì shop, I’d see big blocks of peppered fatty ham and grayish gelatinous head cheese being sliced on industrial meat slicers. Now I feel like a lot of the thịt người filling look and taste like boring deli meats I’d find at an American grocery store. With the Boccalone tray I was able to substitute pickled carrots for olives, so those were covered (btw, I do not like cilantro). Next, I picked up some pâté from Fatted Calf Charcuterie which sells at the Farmers Market on Saturdays only. The Pâté de Campagne is pork pate with duck liver. It was about $6 for 6 oz. Last, I picked up a handmade 18″ baguette from the Della Fattoria stall for $5.

With my Ferry Building ingredients, I was able to build 3 sandwiches for about $5 each. I only needed about 1 oz of pâté for each sandwich. The bread was a little more dense than I’d prefer and the pâté was not the most spreadable (foie gras next time would be pure indulgence), but this gourmet bánh mì made me so happy… I’m not sure I’ll be craving a regular old Vietnamese sandwich for a while.

*Mimi

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Bánh Mì – Sandwich