simbal

Southeast Asian Kitchen + Bar

Banh mi salad

Let’s be frank: in America, ethnic culture is intertwined with ethnic cuisine, and each ethnic cuisine has a couple of iconic dishes. For example, sushi and ramen is synonymous with the Japanese; kimchi and barbeque with the Korean; pad thai and curry with the Thai; and, pho and banh mi sandwich with the Vietnamese.

 

Our goal was to include a Vietnamese dish that was familiar, but not an exact recreation. First, we avoided the cliché technique of elevating a dish with exotic or luxury ingredients, then scattering them on a plate like a Kandinsky painting. Next, we were sparked by a recipe for panzanella bread salad from an Italian cookbook; we asked: what if the banh mi sandwich were a salad instead? We agreed that the idea was playful, fun, and food-sharing friendly, without compromising the original flavors.  For the dish, we use all of the traditional ingredients found in a banh mi, with one variation: the chicken liver paté that is typically smeared inside the sandwich is replaced with chicken liver paté balls that are rolled in breadcrumbs, then fried until golden brown.

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