So, Vietnamese food… If you haven’t tried it, I recommend you should. Here I’ve done a take on the Vietnamese sandwich the ‘Banh Mi’ — I’ve made them into little sliders… Mini Banh Mi’s. I’ve only made these sandwiches once before — see my Chicken Banh Mi post. The chicken version was a favorite, but I wanted to check out some more variations of this awesome little sandwich.
Since I’ve had a bit of time off over the holidays, I’ve been conquering a few ‘bigger’ recipes … not harder, just with a few more steps and components. But I’m telling you, the results are incredible. This sandwich consists of the juicy slow-cooked pork, a tangy pickled vegetable mix, and a spicy Sriracha mayonnaise. I stack it all up on a small slider bun, garnish with cilantro and jalapeno slices, and then indulge. I could have eaten ALL of these little flavor-packed sandwiches.. but I restrained. It’s January afterall.
Happy New Year, by the way.
I’m really excited about a Christmas present I got myself, a badass mandoline from Amazon that allowed me to chop the veggies for the pickled veggie mix (see below). I used red radishes here because my grocery store was missing daikon. Oh well though, the red radishes were still delish, and made the combo even more colorful and beautiful!

The vegetables I used for the pickled veggie mix: 1 cup shredded carrots, 2 cups shredded radishes, and 1/2 cucumber.

Prepare the rub by mixing five spice powder, cayenne, salt, pepper and brown sugar

I checked the meat every thirty minutes or so and covered it with the onions

- Preheat oven to 275 degrees F. Mix five spice, salt, pepper, cayenne, and brown sugar together, and generously rub pork shoulder until coated.
- Heat a Dutch oven over medium-high heat, pour a few tablespoons of grapeseed oil in the dutch oven, and let it heat up. Sear your pork shoulder on every side.
- Meanwhile, heat sesame oil over medium-high heat in a large pan, add the garlic and saute for a minute or two until fragrant. Add the ginger and saute a minute more. Add tamari, rice vinegar and water and cook a few minutes more.
- Add the sauce to the Dutch oven with the pork, and scatter onion slices around the shoulder. Place the Dutch oven into the preheated oven and cook for 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 hours until tender. Remove pork and slice or shred for sandwiches, and add back to the Dutch oven (with the flavorful sauce).
- In a medium bowl or large mason jar (or 2), mix radish, carrots, and cucumber. In a medium saucepan heat vinegar, salt, and sugar over medium-high heat. Once sugar is dissolved, pour over the mixed vegetables. Set aside or in fridge until ready to use.
- Whisk all ingredients together. Add to a squeeze bottle to make things easier.
- Brush buns with Sriracha mayonnaise and toast on a flat-top or hot pan (350 degrees F) for a few minutes until starting to brown (3-4 minutes).
- Add a few pieces of pork to each bun, and top with pickled vegetables, cilantro, jalapenos and a squeeze of more of the Sriracha mayonnaise.
- *Traditional Banh Mi's are made with the diakon radish, but I used red radishes (they're pretty, and my grocery store was out of daikon :-/). Use whichever you want!


