The Land of Missed Sandwiches

How many times have we discovered, too late, that we had been in the presence of something which at the time it was available we ignored, dismissed, or just didn’t see but, now, we would love to experience, but cannot because circumstances have changed and that thing is no longer at hand? (This goes for places and people, too, of course; not just things.)

So it is for me with the countless Vietnamese sandwiches I could have experienced at the Manoa Marketplace Ba-Le, but didn’t because I was (1) too enamored of their phở gà, (2) too ignorant of what a Vietnamese “sandwich” was (“pork sandwich doesn’t even come close to describing it), and (3) too sure of what I thought a “sandwich” was.

Now, in true Kung Fu Panda fashion, I must philosophically turn those missed opportunities into more auspicious ones. It means I have the opportunity for a QUEST: finding the best Vietnamese sandwich I can in St. Petersburg, Florida. Unfortunately, never having had an authentic one, and therefore lacking an experiential standard for comparison, I’m at a bit of a disadvantage.

But…I have a pretty good imagination and I have some excellent reference resources. There are three features that make a Vietnamese sandwich unique:

• the bread
• the vegetables
• the meat.

Wandering Chopsticks has recipes on her site for two different kinds of Vietnamese sandwiches, “bánh mì” in Vietnamese. Here are the links to her two recipes:

• bánh mì thịt heo nướng
• bánh mì xa xíu.

The text and pictures for those recipes helped explain things quite a bit. I’d read elsewhere that the flour that’s used for the bread for Vietnamese sandwiches is a mix of wheat flour and rice flour.

I stopped and got my first, banh mi sandwich with xa xiu (barbecued pork) filing.

I’d never noticed bánh mì in any of the several Vietnamese restaurants I frequent. So, one day while shopping at the Cantho Oriental Market, I asked the proprietress, with whom I’ve become quite comfortable asking Asian cooking questions, where was a good place in town to buy bánh mì. “Why here!” she said. “Come back Saturday, noon, and you can have special one.” So…I did.

An old professor to the core, I did more online research before I returned the following Saturday. I found a terrific resource for the different types of bánh mì that I printed out to take with me for her to point to, so I could accurately report on the type of sandwich she prepared. It’s an extremely informative list of each type of bánh mì and its contents. Please check it out: Fillings on the Battle of the Bánh Mì subpage of the White on Rice Couple blog. There are four other bánh mì articles on White on Rice Couple that are very relevant:

• Party Ideas
• Meat & Veggie Recipes
• Daikon/Carrot Pickles
• Make Your Own Bánh Mì

When I returned to the Cantho on Saturday for my bánh mì I had my printouts in hand for her to use to identify which kind I was getting. Turns out it was the “6. Xa Xíu (Bar-B-Que Pork)- Sweet, pinkish colored pork cooked to the style of Chinese bar-b-que. Cuts of pork can also vary like those of grilled pork.” (Quote from the White on Rice Couple’s Fillings list.)

She had me come back behind the meat counter at the back of the store that I’d never paid much attention to and she showed me different types of bar-b-qued beef she had freshly cooked. She let me sample a sliver of each. I picked the one that I liked the best—hard choice, they were all tasty—and she began preparing my sandwich. She explained how she trims from different parts of the meat for each sandwich, a little from the crunchy part, a little from the soft part. Then she asked how much fat I want. I admit to being a pig fat fan (if it’s properly prepared) so I said, “oh yes…a little, please.”

She only has the standard French baguettes, not the ones made with rice flour, but the meat was so good, I didn’t care. This was my first bánh mì, and the details didn’t matter! She put on some of the pickled vegetables and wrapped the sandwich which I took home and promptly ate, pausing only to snap the picture at the top of the article.

When I returned for more shopping this week, I told her how much I enjoyed the sandwich. I can truthfully say the bar-b-qued pork—which they cook themselves, fresh—was fantastic. I also told her I’d like a bit more of the pickled vegetables next time. She brightened up and said, “You like?!” Then she explained that usually she didn’t put many on because some folks (unfortunate foreigners such as me, I’m sure she meant) don’t like them. I assured her I do, so I’ll be back for a better balanced one next weekend.

Turns out that only on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays does she fix the special bánh mì such as the xa xiu I had, but on any weekday you can get the cold ones like the “1. Chả or Chả Lụa (PORK ROLL)- Ground up pork is packed tightly into a roll, and wrapped with banana leaves (and or aluminum foil) then steamed or boiled , hence producing the dense ‘pork roll’. Sliced thin like bologna, these make up one of the most common cold cuts found in Bánh mì.” (Quote from the White on Rice Couple’s Fillings list.)

She also sells the pork rolls not in a sandwich, but all wrapped up in their banana leaves, right beside the counter, so you can take them home and make your own sandwiches. There’s an excellent Chinese bakery over on the Tampa side. I’m going to call them and see if they make the wheat flour-rice flour combination baguettes or if they know of a Vietnamese bakery in the area. If I can find the wheat/rice banquettes locally, I’ll get some, buy some of the pickled vegetables, and try making my own xa xiu or cha lua myself.

Or, maybe I’ll see if Ba-Le has any plans to open a restaurant in St. Pete any time soon. If not, I’ll be forced to fly back to Oahu for lunch. Either way, I won’t be quite so quick to assume I know what a “sandwich” is.

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Tagged as: Asian food, Florida, FOOD, Hawaii, markets, recipes, St. Petersburg, Vietnamese food