Quick & Easy Chicken Banh Mi

After the rush of Christmas, here’s one of our go-to dishes to feed a crowd during relaxed summer gatherings! Vietnamese Banh Mi is one of my favourite taste sensations, a crispy baguette stuffed with chicken, pickled carrots, cucumber, chilli and fresh coriander. Have all your ingredients prepped and ready to go and then it’s just a matter of assembling and serving! Too easy!

(Serves 6-8)

Pickled Carrot*:

½ cup rice or white vinegar

¼ cup white sugar

1 teaspoons salt

2 medium carrots, peeled

Chicken:

500g cooked roast chicken, shredded (or 3 x skinless chicken breast, butterflied or sliced into 2 thin pieces)

Filling:

3 Lebanese cucumbers, thinly sliced on a diagonal

4 tbsp mayonnaise

100g chicken pate

3 red chillies, sliced

1 cup coarsely chopped coriander (leaves & stalks)

Maggi Seasoning Sauce*

6 x Vietnamese Rolls or 2 x Baguettes

* Pickled Carrot and Maggi Sauce can be purchased from most Asian Supermarkets.
* Maggi Sauce, although Swiss in origin, is used as a seasoning throughout Vietnam. This umami-packed vegetable extract tastes like a combination of soy sauce and beef stock. A reasonable substitute, but not quite the same, would be a Japanese soy sauce like Kikkoman.

Method

For Pickled Carrot

1. Cut carrots into 1/8 inch-thick matchsticks or shred thickly with an Asian grater.
2. Whisk together vinegar, sugar and salt in a glass or ceramic bowl until sugar is dissolved, add carrot and toss to combine. Let stand, tossing occasionally, until softened, for about 15-30 minutes. Refrigerate for up to one week.

To Assemble:

1. If not using roasted chicken, cook the chicken breast by brushing chicken with oil and season with salt & pepper. Heat pan or BBQ grill until hot and cook for 3-4 minutes, then turn over and cook for until 3-4 minutes until cooked through. Set aside to cool, then shred into pieces.
2. Preheat oven to 150C and toast baguettes for about 10 minutes until warm & crispy. While bread is warming have all the filling ingredients prepared and ready to assemble the Banh Mi.
3. Halve toasted rolls or baguettes. Spread pate onto the bottom piece of bread then top with shredded chicken, pickled carrot, cucumber slices, generous amount of chopped coriander and sliced chilli. Drizzle with Maggi Seasoning* and season with salt and pepper to taste. Spread mayonnaise onto top piece of bread, place onto Banh Mi and cut into pieces to serve.