History

Banh mi arrived in Melbourne with the post-1975 Vietnamese refugee wave and rooted in the western suburbs around Footscray and Richmond. Phuoc Thanh on Hopkins Street in Footscray is the city's longest-running banh mi specialist, operating from the late 1980s as a counter-service bakery turning out the sandwich at A$7 a piece. The Melbourne format is distinctly Southern Vietnamese: a soft-rice-flour Vietnamese-style baguette, slightly shorter and crispier than a French loaf, packed with cold cuts (gio cha pork roll, sliced char siu, pate), pickled carrot-daikon do chua, cucumber spears, coriander and chilli sauce. Lines run down Hopkins Street at peak Saturday lunch.

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Common allergens: Gluten, Soy, Egg (in mayo)

Make it at home

Yield 4Hands-on 25 minTotal 1 hrDifficulty Easy

Ingredients

  • 4 short Vietnamese-style baguettes (or small French baguettes, lightly crisp-shelled)
  • 300g cold roast pork shoulder, sliced thin (Cantonese char siu works too)
  • 150g good pork pate or chicken liver pate
  • 200g gio cha (Vietnamese pork roll) or quality leg ham, sliced
  • 1 large carrot and 200g daikon, julienned, salted 10 minutes, drained, then mixed with 3 tbsp rice wine vinegar and 2 tsp sugar for 30 minutes (do chua pickle)
  • 1/2 cucumber, cut into long thin strips
  • Small bunch coriander, leaves and tender stems
  • 1 long red chilli, very finely sliced
  • 3 tbsp Kewpie mayonnaise
  • 1 tbsp Maggi seasoning or light soy sauce
  • 1 tsp fresh lime juice

Method

  1. Warm the baguettes in a 180 degrees Celsius oven for 4 minutes until the crust is crisp but the interior is still soft.
  2. Slice each baguette lengthways without cutting all the way through; pull out a little of the soft crumb to make room.
  3. Spread a generous layer of pate on the bottom inner face and a layer of Kewpie mayonnaise on the top inner face.
  4. Lay the cold roast pork slices on the pate, then the gio cha or ham slices over the top, fanning them along the length.
  5. Top with a generous tangle of the drained do chua pickle, then cucumber strips, then a bushy handful of coriander and chilli to taste.
  6. Drizzle Maggi seasoning and squeeze fresh lime over the herbs.
  7. Press the sandwich closed firmly to compress the layers; cut in half on the diagonal and eat immediately while the bread is still warm and crisp.

Tip from the editors. True Vietnamese baguettes have a much thinner crust and softer rice-flour-blend crumb than French. If buying from a Vietnamese bakery, ask for them just out of the oven; if not, refresh a French baguette in a 200 degree oven for 3 minutes wrapped in foil to soften the crumb.

Where to eat pork banh mi at phuoc thanh

Pork Banh Mi at Phuoc Thanh in Melbourne

Footscray Market ★ 4.6

$ MarketYarraville

Footscray Market on Hopkins Street is Melbourne's best multicultural food market: Vietnamese grocers, African spice traders and Phuoc Thanh banh mi inside.

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