The Banh Mi Handbook: Recipes for Crazy-Delicious Vietnamese Sandwiches [A Cookbook]

The instructions for making the rolls were detailed and helpful. In about 3 hours one morning I turned out some absolutely beautiful little rolls, using the mail-order dough conditioners the author recommended. Only a few minutes of that time was active. Even kneading by hand took only a few minutes. They were great fresh and even better the second day halved and toasted.

If you've had good Vietnamese food, you know it's fresh and delicious. I love Bahn Mi sandwiches. This has great, authentic recipes and a personal writing style.

Your not going to believe it! This cookbook is on another level. Everyone lives this; the whole family. amazing!

Brilliant. Banh Mi made accessible to everyday cooks. I cooked a garlicky pork tenderloin yesterday. The instructions for an unusual cooking method were simple and direct. The finished pork was wonderful. Here's a photo of my first Banh Mi sandwich. Delicious!I appreciated the author's suggestions for which authentic ingredients were important to add to my inventory and when I could could substitute standard ingredients. I substituted a crusty garlic bread bun but decided to buy authentic Japanese mayo. If you like Banh Mi, then just do it. Buy this one!

The book has beautiful color photos and tells you how to make the fillings for these wonderful Vietnamese Sandwiches.

I am a big fan of Andrea Nguyen's dumpling and pho cookbooks. I'm also an avid bread baker, from freshly ground flour. Flour needs to age. In "Advanced Bread and Pastry" (141801169X), Michel Suas describes freshly ground flour as "green", details the hazards, and advises adding 20 to 40 parts per million ascorbic acid to dough from "green" flour. I've cautiously raised this to 60 ppm. He recommends mixing with white flour to aid measuring and distribution. I make a 1:20 cut, then a 1:20 cut from that for a 1:440 blend I can weigh and thoroughly mix into my dough. For example, my standard recipe now calls for 900 grams of flour and 24 grams of 1:440 AA.King Arthur also recommends ascorbic acid as a dough conditioner. They know their stuff but are sensitive to the needs of less involved bakers. They recommend a "pinch" of ascorbic acid.Andrea Nguyen's dough recipe is over 1000 parts per million ascorbic acid. This is insane. I'm not a doctor; I can't attribute actual harm to this, but I consider it irresponsible for her to not know this is contrary to professional advice, or to not say so.The ascorbic acid mechanism is independent from pH. I've begun to also add a teaspoon of vinegar per kilo of flour, which has a dramatic effect. I wouldn't use enough ascorbic acid to have this effect on the pH. It's probably safer than using LSD to affect the pH, but equally misguided.

I've been a fan of the author, following her lovely and delicious blog for some time. This book follows through on what I love about her work -- it's accessible for a home cook, the photography is delightful, the writing is clear, and I'm eager to get in the kitchen and try things out for me and my family.This book features recipes for omnivores, meat-eaters, and vegetarians. Also, because of the way the book is structured, one could easily turn many of these sandwich fillings into main dishes for a non-sandwich meal. In my family, we eat a lot of rice, and I'll definitely be serving things like Crispy Drunken Chicken, Shrimp in Caramel Sauce, and Maggi Steaks with or without bread.But the bread! She includes a recipe for banh mi rolls, but I haven't got to try it yet. When the weather cools down, I'll give it a try. It's written for a heavy-duty stand mixer, which I do not have, but Notes include instructions on how to work it by hand. Probably it would be a bit imposing for someone without a mixer or some bread-making experience; it is not, however, more complicated-looking than recipes I've done before, and it requires no special equipment beyond a spray bottle.There is also a recipe for bao-like buns, or steamed bread, in the "alternative banh mi" chapter. That chapter also features a recipe for lettuce wraps and a salad, perfect for warmer weather meals.Also included is a section on condiments, such as homemade mayo in several variations and some other sauces, and quick pickle recipes. They are refrigerator pickles and as such do not require any special canning techniques.The section which may see the least use in my house is the one on cold cuts; this is not because the recipes look bad, however. To me they look amazing, and I'll be trying some of the sausages...but I'm probably the only one in the house who would love the pâté with chicken or pork, let alone the headcheese terrine. I'll probably make them anyway, at least once, since I'm the cook; if I'm lucky, my housemates will enjoy them too. People with more adventurous families or housemates may get more mileage out of them. (I slightly envy them.)All in all, this is a cookbook I'm happy to have added to my collection, and I'm looking forward to adding its contents to my regular cooking rotation.

Well written book shows not only sandwich ideas but how to make the beautiful rolls, pickled vegetables and sauces to make a Banh Mi you’ll want over and over again!

I've been spoiled living in Toronto for most of my life. The Vietnamese food downtown is amazing, authentic and so taste worthy. This book really captures that reality. Beautiful photos and the recipes are mouth watering. I'm so glad to have found this special book. It really is a gem. And it covers everything. Making the sandwich buns from home, the pickled sandwich veggies, the pates. Everything to make the perfect Banh Mi sandwich. 100% happy this this book purchase.

My uncle always told stories of how horrible his time in the ‘Nam was so I bought this book so experience a little bit of what it must have been like.Seems delightful, lots of different sandwiches and plenty of very nice ones. Have taken to making some as light snacks too now.

Great book that you can not only use for sandwiches but a whole range of easy, fuss free meat and veggie recipes open up that you can adapt for main meals. Much simpler that Chinese cookery, these Vietnamese recipes are much simplified and yet pack a flavorful, lip smacking punch every time and as such comes seriously recommended.

I expected a little more from this book, but there are many variations of Banh Mi you can make at home. Recipe for the baguette is a little bit strange.

Bought this for my son for a present, after a trip to Asia in the summer. He loves it and some of the recipes are very authentic.