Banh mi thit. Photo: TasteAtlas

According to TasteAtlas, Banh Mi (pronounced 'bun mee') is a very popular Vietnamese variety of sandwiches that has the same core ingredient - baguette, introduced by the French.

The page describes, Vietnamese Banh Mi has a crispy crust with meat, sprinkled with spices, combined with cilantro, chili and pickles reflecting the Vietnamese taste for fresh vegetables and bright flavors.

Nowadays, bread fillings are diverse such as chicken, pork, beef, seafood, cold meat or pâté, sausage.

The culinary website evaluates that thanks to the unique spices and fillings, Vietnamese bread is especially popular with foreign tourists. Vietnamese bread has appeared in many stores around the world.

Vietnamese Banh mi are very diverse, the most popular is meat sandwiches. There are also special bread, fish cake bread, roasted pork bread, grilled chicken bread, pork sausage bread, fried egg bread…

TasteAtlas also suggests some famous Banh mi shops in Ho Chi Minh City, Hoi An, Ha Noi, and even in the US and Australia.

In the list of TasteAtlas, there are also Banh mi thit (ranked 9th), Banh mi heo quay (ranked 29th). TasteAtlas explains that Banh mi thit (bread with meat) are very popular in Vietnam.  The sandwich is made with various Vietnamese cold cuts such as sliced roasted pork, sliced pork belly, chả (sliced ham), or chả lụa pork sausage, along with cucumbers, mayonnaise, pickled carrots and daikon, and liver pâté stuffed into a banh mi roll. In addition, meatloaf is often supplemented with ingredients such as coriander, black pepper and sliced chili peppers.

Banh mi thit is usually enjoyed for breakfast and lunch, but the sandwiches can be eaten for any meal of the day if bought from street stall vendors.

Banh mi heo quay. Photo: TasteAtlas

In the 29th, Roasted Pork Belly Banh Mi (Banh mi heo quay). It is a traditional Vietnamese banh mi sandwich variation made with roasted pork belly as the main ingredient. The pork is roasted with a thick layer of salt and spices. It is sliced and served on a freshly baked banh mi roll.

The sandwich is then dressed with a combination of mayonnaise, pickled carrots and daikon, cucumbers, cilantro, and chives. If desired, sliced chili peppers can be added to the sandwich as a topping, making it very spicy. One side of banh mi heo quay can also be spread with chicken liver pate before the sliced pork belly is added to the sandwich.

The word "Banh Mi" has also been included in many world-famous dictionaries such as Oxford, Cambridge, Merriam-Webster... "A Vietnamese-style baguette filled with ham, pate and vegetables", Oxford Learners' Dictionaries define.

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