Easy and Delicious Banh Mi Chay

A Vegan Version of a Vietnamese Street Food Staple

Banh mi is a staple in Vietnamese cuisine.  Simple in structure, but big on taste.  Typically, banh mi is a French baguette, sliced lengthwise, and filled with meats and vegetables.  There are so many variations depending on the meats used to stuff the sandwich, but the bread is always a baguette and the vegetables are common to all variations.  Here is an easy vegan banh mi recipe that is sure to please. My recipe for an Easy and Delicious Banh Mi Chay, or a Vietnamese tofu sandwich.

French Roots, but Distinctly Vietnamese

Banh mi is relatively new, credited with being invented in the 1950’s. Influenced initially by French occupation, the banh mi transformed from a French-style sandwich to a sandwich loaded with traditional Vietnamese cuisine.  The result is a fusion of French and Vietnamese street cuisine.  “Banh” means bread and “mi” means wheat.  The filling will then be added to the name to distinguish what type of banh mi you are having.  Chay refers to the sandwich being vegetarian.

You typically would not find banh mi chay as a Vietnamese street food.  It is normally made at Buddhist temples during religious events.  Just because you cannot get it on the streets of Saigon or at your local banh mi shop, does not mean we cannot enjoy it at home! 

The Building of the Banh Mi Chay

The Vegan “Mayo”

A traditional banh mi will use Pâté or other condiments, such as mayonnaise or chili sauce.  To veganize the sandwich, I made a spicy vegan mayonnaise using a plant-based mayo spread (Earth Balance Original Mindful Dressing & Sandwich Spread) and Sriracha.   The vegan mayo adds the right amount of fat and creaminess while the Sriracha gives it a high punch of spiciness.

If you are following a whole food, plant-based no oil diet, you can substitute the plant-based mayo with a homemade “mayo” made with silken tofu. Here is a link to a recipe for a no-oil silken tofu “mayo” from Nora Cooks that is compliant with a WFPBNO lifestyle.

Tofu as the Protein

Extra firm tofu is thinly sliced and marinaded in salt, pepper, and Go-Chu-Jang sauce.  Fried in a non-stick skillet or grilled, the tofu really takes on the spicy flavor of Go-Chu-Jang sauce.  Honestly, you can marinate the tofu in any seasoning you like, but you need to help the tofu out otherwise you will have a mushy, bland filling.

So, at this point, I need to address the elephant in the room.  I am making a Vietnamese sandwich with Sriracha from Thailand and Go-Chu-Jang sauce from Korea.  Yes, I did that.  If you want to make it truly Vietnamese, I am sure your local Asian market has chili or pepper sauce from Vietnam.  But we are using a French baguette, so I think we are ok mixing in the different culinary regions.

Stuffed with Vegetables

The rest of the filling is very traditional.  Cucumber slices, pickled carrots, pickled radishes (or daikon), pickled onion, and cilantro.  I try to pack everything into the sliced baguette without breaking the top from the bottom.

Use Two Hands and Open Wide

Admittedly, this is a messy sandwich.  You need to firmly hold the sandwich with two hands and squeeze the baguette as you bite into it to try to keep the contents from being squeezed out.  I had the vegan mayo / Sriracha spread all over my beard by the end!

If you aren’t a fan of tofu, tempeh or seitan can be substituted.  But like tofu, you will want to season whichever you use to fill the banh mi.  The versatility really makes this an easy vegan banh mi recipe to make with your preferred vegan protein source.

Serve the Banh Mi Chay with a Vietnamese vegan Pho for a perfect sandwich and soup combination!  Click here for Yeung Man Cooking’s YouTube video on vegan Pho.  I really love Wil Yeung’s channel on YouTube and I highly recommend watching his videos on Asian vegan dishes.

Enjoy my Easy and Delicious Banh Mi Chay!

Print Recipe

Easy and Delicious Banh Mi Chay

(No Ratings Yet)

Loading...

Sandwiches – Vietnamese

By Stephen R. MacNeil – Serves: 4

Prep Time: 15 minutes – Cooking Time: 15 minutes – Total Time: 30 minutes

A Vegan Version of a Vietnamese Street Food Staple

Ingredients

• 2 French baguettes, cut into four 6-inch pieces and then sliced lengthwise (do not cut through)
• 1 English cucumber, cut into 6-inch pieces and then thinly sliced lengthwise
• ¾ cup of carrots, shredded or cut into matchsticks
• ½ cup of radishes, thinly sliced
• ½ cup of onion, thinly sliced
• Cilantro
• 1 package of extra firm tofu, sliced into ½-inch thick pieces
• Go-Chu-Jang Sauce
• Plant-based vegan mayonnaise (or use a no-oil silken tofu "mayo" if following a WFPBNO diet)
• Sriracha
• Salt and pepper
• To pickle the vegetables
• ½ cup of rice wine vinegar
• ½ cup of water
• 1 tsp of salt
• 1 tsp of sugar

Instructions

1

Cover the tofu slices with Go-Chu-Jang Sauce, salt, and pepper and set aside.

2

Combine the rice wine vinegar, water, salt, and sugar in a small saucepan.

3

Bring the pickling mixture to a low boil on the stovetop, stirring until the salt and sugar have dissolved.

4

Place the carrots, radishes, and onion in a shallow bowl and pour the pickling mixture over the vegetables.

5

Place the vegetables in the refrigerator to cool.

6

Combine the vegan mayonnaise and Sriracha in a small bowl and mix (test the proportions to suit your taste).

7

Fry the tofu slices over medium heat in a non-stick skillet for 5 minutes per side.

8

Remove the tofu from the heat and set aside.

Assemble the sandwich

9

Open the baguette and spread the vegan mayo / Sriracha mixture on both the top and bottom of the baguette.

10

Layer 2 thin cucumber slices on the bottom half.

11

Layer 2 or 3 slices of tofu on top of the cucumber.

12

Stuff the sandwich with as much pickled carrots, radishes, and onions without breaking off the top of the baguette from the bottom.

13

Top with cilantro.

14

Enjoy!