CHICKEN BANH MI
These delicious Vietnamese chicken banh mi rolls are an easy dinner or lunch. The pickled vegetables, paté and sweet chilli aioli provide a great mix of flavours.
Pickling the onions takes the strong onion flavour away and makes them much more palatable. If you have time, these can be prepped in advance and the chicken can be left to marinate in the sauce too. The flavours will be even better!
I had intended to include grated carrot in the recipe, but forgot about it when I was preparing the recipe for photographing. Feel free to add this if you like – it’s a good way to increase the veggie content.
CHICKEN BANH MI
These delicious Vietnamese chicken banh mi rolls are an easy dinner or lunch. The pickled vegetables, paté and sweet chilli aioli provide a great mix of flavours.
Ingredients
PICKLED VEGETABLES
- 1/3 telegraph cucumber
- 2/3 red onion
- 1/3 cup white vinegar (80ml)
- 1/3 cup cold water (80ml)
- 3 tsp sugar
- 1/4 tsp salt
CHICKEN
- 500 g boneless, skinless chicken thighs (1lb 2oz)
- 2 Tbsp soy sauce
- 1 1/2 Tbsp sweet chilli sauce
- 1 tsp peanut oil
TO SERVE
- 3 Tbsp plain, unsweetened yoghurt
- 3 Tbsp aioli
- 1/2 Tbsp sweet chilli sauce
- 1/2 red capsicum
- 4 mini baguettes (or 1 large baguette cut into 4 pieces)
- 80 g chicken liver pate (2.8oz)
- 40 g mesclun lettuce (1.4oz)
- Large handful fresh coriander
Instructions
MAKE PICKLED VEGETABLES
Slice cucumber into thin strips and thinly slice red onion. In a shallow dish, whisk together vinegar, water, sugar and salt. Add cucumber and onion and leave to pickle while you prepare the rest of the meal.
COOK CHICKEN
Preheat oven to 190ºC (375ºF) fan bake. Season chicken with pepper, then drizzle over the soy sauce and sweet chilli sauce. Toss to coat. Heat oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Add chicken and cook for a couple of minutes each side. Place on a rack set over a roasting dish and roast for 15 minutes, until cooked through.
PREPARE SERVING INGREDIENTS
Whisk together yoghurt, aioli and sweet chilli sauce. Cut capsicum into strips. Cut baguettes in half. I sliced straight through the top for the ones shown in the photo but they are easier to eat sliced the other way (separating the top from the bottom).
Spread one half of each baguette with paté and the other half with aioli mixture.
SERVE
Use two forks to roughly shred the cooked chicken. Drain pickled vegetables. Divide chicken, pickled vegetables, capsicum, lettuce and coriander between baguettes. Sandwich together and enjoy!
Recipe Notes
WINE MATCH: Try a Pinot Gris or a Riesling.
GLUTEN-FREE OPTION: Use gluten-free soy sauce, sweet chilli sauce and aioli. Replace baguettes with gluten-free wraps. Ensure paté is gluten-free.
INGREDIENT SWAPS / NOTES: If you don’t like paté, you can leave it out. It really does add to the flavour of this meal though! Grated carrot is a great addition.
STORING AND REHEATING: Store individual components separately and assemble just before serving. Rolls could be lightly toasted if they are not fresh. Chicken works well both cold and warm. For an easier work lunch, you could refrigerate pre-assembled rolls and lightly toast in a toasted sandwich maker before eating.
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