History

Vietnamese refugees built Houston's Bellaire Boulevard (Asiatown) from 1975 onward; the city's Vietnamese population is now over 100,000, second-largest in the United States after Orange County. Cali Sandwich and Roi Bien on Milam established the Houston bánh mì style; Les Givral's Kahve and Pho Binh have followed. The Houston version uses a softer, lighter Vietnamese baguette than the Saigon original, suited to American flour.

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Common allergens: Gluten, Egg, Dairy, Soy

Make it at home

Yield 4Hands-on 30 minTotal 2 hr 30 minDifficulty Intermediate

Ingredients

  • 4 Vietnamese-style baguettes (light, airy crumb; or substitute light French baguettes)
  • 8 tbsp Kewpie mayonnaise
  • 200g pork pâté (chicken-liver mousse pâté works as substitute)
  • 300g cha lua (Vietnamese pork roll), thinly sliced; or substitute mortadella
  • 200g sliced grilled pork (marinated in lemongrass, garlic, fish sauce, sugar; grilled 6 minutes)
  • For the pickle (đồ chua): 1 large daikon and 2 large carrots cut into matchsticks
  • 100ml rice vinegar
  • 100ml water
  • 50g sugar
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 cucumber, sliced into long thin strips
  • 1 large bunch fresh cilantro (coriander), with stems
  • 2 jalapeños, sliced into thin rings
  • Maggi seasoning sauce or light soy sauce
  • Cracked black pepper

Method

  1. Make the pickle: combine vinegar, water, sugar, and salt in a jar, stir to dissolve. Add daikon and carrot matchsticks. Refrigerate 2 hours minimum; this is the foundation of bánh mì flavour.
  2. Marinate sliced pork in 2 tbsp fish sauce, 1 tbsp sugar, 2 crushed garlic cloves, 1 finely chopped lemongrass stalk, 1 tsp black pepper. Grill or sear in a hot pan for 6 minutes total, charred at the edges.
  3. Warm the baguettes in a 200C oven for 4 minutes until the crust crisps but the inside stays soft.
  4. Split each baguette lengthwise, leaving a hinge.
  5. Spread the bottom half generously with mayonnaise, then a thick smear of pâté along the cut surface.
  6. Layer cha lua slices, then grilled pork on top.
  7. Drain pickled daikon-carrot, squeeze gently dry, and pile a generous heap on the meat.
  8. Top with cucumber strips, a thick bouquet of cilantro stems and leaves, jalapeño rings.
  9. Splash 3 to 5 drops of Maggi sauce across the fillings, crack black pepper. Close the sandwich and press firmly. Eat immediately.

Tip from the editors. Maggi sauce is non-negotiable for Houston bánh mì; without those 3 drops the sandwich tastes generic-Western. Asian groceries sell the small brown bottle.

Where to eat houston bánh mì

Houston Bánh Mì in Houston

Cali Sandwich & Pho ★ 4.5

$ Vietnamese

Cali Sandwich & Pho in Houston is the Midtown Vietnamese counter on Travis Street, with a $5 BBQ pork banh mi that has been the best Houston cheap lunch.

TryBBQ pork banh mi

TipBBQ pork is the canonical banh mi. Cash strongly preferred. Closed Sundays.

Directions

Pho Binh (Bellaire) ★ 4.3

$ Vietnamese

Pho Binh on Bellaire in Houston is the 1983 Vietnamese counter from the Le family, with rare-beef pho under $14 and a Vietnamese-iced-coffee tradition.

TryPho tai (rare beef)

TipPho tai (rare beef) is the standard. Cash strongly preferred. Add Thai basil and lime at the table.

Directions

Crawfish and Noodles ★ 4.6

$$ Vietnamese

Crawfish and Noodles in Houston is Trong Nguyen's Bellaire Boulevard Viet-Cajun crawfish room since 2008, a James Beard semifinalist. At 11360 Bellaire Blvd.

OrderCrawfish in lemongrass garlic butter sauce. Blue crab off-season.

Why locals goA Bellaire Boulevard strip-mall Vietnamese kitchen that serves the country's defining Viet-Cajun crawfish, unknown to most national lists.

TipCrawfish only in season (late February to early June). Off-season the kitchen pivots to blue crab and Dungeness; both are worth ordering.

Directions

Tacos Tierra Caliente ★ 4.6

$$ MexicanUntil Open until 22:00 Mon-Sat, 19:00 Sun

Tacos Tierra Caliente in Houston is the West Alabama taco truck open until 10pm in Montrose, with al pastor from the trompo and an ice house next door.

TryTacos al pastor

TipThree al pastor with pineapple and a consomme. The West Alabama Ice House next door is open later for beers.

Directions

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