BBQ Pork Banh Mi Panzanella

Name: BBQ Pork Banh Mi Panzanella
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 25 min
Total time: 55 min
Yield: 6 servings
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 1 1/2 lbs pork shoulder, sliced about 1/4 inch thin (30 to 40 minutes in the freezer first makes thin slicing easy); 1/4 cup fish sauce; 2 tbsp soy sauce; 3 tbsp brown sugar; 2 stalks lemongrass, tender part minced (or 2 tbsp jarred); 4 garlic cloves, minced; 1 small shallot, minced; 2 tbsp neutral oil; Plenty of black pepper; 1 cup carrot, cut into matchsticks; 1 cup daikon, cut into matchsticks; 1/2 cup rice wine vinegar; 1/2 cup warm water; 3 tbsp sugar; 1 tsp kosher salt; 1 baguette, preferably day old, torn into bite-size chunks; 3 tbsp neutral oil; Pinch of salt; 3 tbsp hoisin sauce; 3 tbsp rice wine vinegar; 3 tbsp honey; 1 tbsp toasted sesame oil; 1 1/2 tbsp low-sodium soy sauce; 1/2 cup mayonnaise; 1 to 2 tbsp sriracha, to taste; 1 tbsp rice wine vinegar; Pinch of salt, water to thin; 1 English cucumber, sliced into half moons; 1 or 2 jalapenos, sliced thin; 1/2 cup cilantro leaves, roughly torn

Everything you love about a banh mi, rebuilt as a Tuscan bread salad: charred BBQ pork, pickled daikon and carrot, cucumber, jalapeno, and a pile of fresh herbs tossed with crispy baguette croutons in a hoisin-honey dressing, finished with a sriracha mayo drizzle.

Total time

55 min

Serves

6

Difficulty

Medium

play_circle Watch episode 283

As seen on Episode 283

The pantry

kitchen

Essentials · serves 6

BBQ Pork (thit nuong style)

1 1/2 lbs pork shoulder, sliced about 1/4 inch thin (30 to 40 minutes in the freezer first makes thin slicing easy) 1/4 cup fish sauce 2 tbsp soy sauce 3 tbsp brown sugar 2 stalks lemongrass, tender part minced (or 2 tbsp jarred) 4 garlic cloves, minced 1 small shallot, minced 2 tbsp neutral oil Plenty of black pepper

Do Chua (pickled daikon and carrot)

1 cup carrot, cut into matchsticks 1 cup daikon, cut into matchsticks 1/2 cup rice wine vinegar 1/2 cup warm water 3 tbsp sugar 1 tsp kosher salt

Croutons

1 baguette, preferably day old, torn into bite-size chunks 3 tbsp neutral oil Pinch of salt

Hoisin-Honey Dressing

3 tbsp hoisin sauce 3 tbsp rice wine vinegar 3 tbsp honey 1 tbsp toasted sesame oil 1 1/2 tbsp low-sodium soy sauce

Sriracha Mayo Drizzle

1/2 cup mayonnaise 1 to 2 tbsp sriracha, to taste 1 tbsp rice wine vinegar Pinch of salt, water to thin

The Fresh Stuff

1 English cucumber, sliced into half moons 1 or 2 jalapenos, sliced thin 1/2 cup cilantro leaves, roughly torn 1/4 cup mint leaves, roughly torn Lime wedges, to finish

·

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The preparation

8 steps, about 55 minutes start to finish.

01
1. Marinate ahead: whisk the fish sauce, soy, brown sugar, lemongrass, garlic, shallot, oil, and pepper. Coat the sliced pork and refrigerate at least 2 hours, overnight is better.
02
2. Pickle ahead: dissolve the sugar and salt in the vinegar and warm water, submerge the carrot and daikon, and refrigerate at least 30 minutes. Overnight is better here too, and they keep for weeks.
03
3. Dry the bread: toss the torn baguette with oil and salt and bake at 350F for 12 to 15 minutes until golden and properly dry. Dried bread drinks the dressing and stays crunchy. Fresh bread turns to mush, so do not skip this.
04
4. Whisk the dressing together. Whisk the drizzle together, thinning with water a teaspoon at a time until it ribbons off a spoon.
05
5. Broil the pork: high broiler, rack 4 to 6 inches under the element, pork in a single layer on a wire rack over a foil-lined sheet pan. About 4 minutes a side, until the edges char and the sugar caramelizes. Watch it, the line between charred and burnt is about a minute.
06
6. Soak: in your biggest bowl, toss the croutons with about two thirds of the dressing and let them sit 10 to 15 minutes to drink it in. This is the panzanella move, and it is where the salad is won.
07
7. Assemble: add the pork and any juices, drained pickles, cucumber, jalapeno, and most of the herbs. Toss with the remaining dressing, taste, and push it brighter with rice vinegar if the plate reads sweet.
08
8. Pile onto a platter, ribbon the sriracha mayo over the top, finish with the rest of the herbs and lime wedges on the side.

lightbulb The chef's notes

“The whole dish balances on acid, because the pork and the dressing are both a little sweet, so taste at the end and do not be shy with the extra rice vinegar or lime. Slice the pork thin before it marinates, not after it cooks: thin slices mean more marinade, more char, and a faster broil. And plate it inside half an hour of assembly, because that is when the croutons give up.”

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