Cilantro, daikon, carrot: the holy trinity of (easy) Banh Mi BBQ pork sandwiches

Dear friends,

I have been on a banh mi kick, but since they're in short supply here in South Carolina, I'm rolling my own.

I just can't get enough of the magical combo: fresh cilantro, daikon radish, and carrot, combined with mayo, smoky pork, tamari, and hot sauce, all layered within some sort of bread product.

Do you love crunchy, sweet-spicy, fresh, smoky Vietnamese sandwiches as much as I do? I have a banh mi obsession.

(The Immaculate Consumption has a great ground turkey banh mi sandwich, but 12 years in San Francisco spoiled me on the BBQ pork variety.)

I've been making mine with croissants (naughty, naughty) cut into quarters for parties, or with pan-toasted Sami's gluten-free millet flax spinach lavash wraps for my lunches. Want to make your own? It is way easy, especially if you live in a pulled pork saturation zone like Columbia, SC.

1. Shred a bunch of fresh carrot and daikon radish root, and use a giant, healthy pinch of each per sandwich. Your health food grocery will have daikon, most likely. (Rosewood Market does!) Thank g-d for mom's 1980s Cuisinart w/the shredder blade!
2. Rip up a bunch of fresh cilantro -- the more the better. Total cilantro coverage is a good thing.
3. Mix up a tablespoon of Sriracha rooster hot sauce with 2-3 TBSP mayo or vegan mayo. Or some such.
4. Here in the Carolinas, pulled BBQ pork is fairly ubiquitous. Get some. (Without sauce!) If you're somewhere else, I bet you know where to get some. Or sub something else! I bet grilled shrimp would be insane.
5. Slice a jalapeno real thin -- this is optional. As are thin-sliced onions. I leave those off.
6. Add a drizzle of tamari! Or soy sauce in a pinch.
7. Assemble all within some sort of bread product. Destroy.

Why don't I have a picture of the banh mi wraps I had for lunch yesterday and today? Well, that would be because I got too excited and ate them. Two days in a row.
xoxo
tb