VietNamNet Bridge – Andrea Nguyen, a Vietnamese-American woman, published her recipes to make Vietnam’s special sandwiches in The Banhmi Handbook early this month in the U.S.

Those people who are fascinated by banh mi, or bread, will be able to make their own delicious loaf at home with the recipes in her latest cookbook.

Andrea Nguyen has cherished her dream of becoming a baker since the age of ten by digging around for recipes and ingredients to make her favorite dish.

She depicted banh mi in the South of Vietnam as liberal as local people. There are many things to be stuffed into loaves of bread such as herbs, pickles, chicken, pork, seafood and pâté. Meanwhile, vegetarian sandwiches will be served with fresh vegetables or tofu.

Banh mi is easy to do and cheap. However, the crust cannot be made arbitrarily, since it has to be crispy outside and soft inside. Especially, stuffing can be customized as eaters wish. People can use dressing instead of soy sauce or remove coriander if they do not like it. They can also use leftover of dinner such as meat or shrimp to put into banh mi, according to Andrea.

Her family has cooked homemade banh mi since 1975. The rare ingredients from Vietnam as coriander, chili, ginger, and chili sauce are now becoming popular in the U.S.

Banh mi has appeared in menus of restaurants and culinary magazines. Its popularity is increasingly widespread in the U.S. Many food companies have also started to sell this unique dish.

SGT/VNN