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For reasons that will become clear later, Y&H has become obsessed with banh mi — and the many subtle ways one sandwich differs from another.
Most in the D.C. area offer variations on these basic ingredients: a pork preparation (shredded, roasted, barbecued), pâté, cold cuts (including those divine slices of head cheese for crunch), pickled veggies, slices of jalapeño, a mayo-based dressing, and some cilantro garnish, all on a crusty mini-baguette. But I have never seen anything as elaborate as this banh mi, which Anthony Bourdain wolfed down during a No Reservations trip to Vietnam.
I’m not even sure what some of those ingredients are. What’s that reddish looking sauce clinging to the sides of the baguette? A fish sauce-loaded hot sauce perhaps? And a fried-egg finish? Good God, I’ve never had such a thing around here — but I’m dying to find one soon.
Compare the banh mi that Bourdain pounds down to a combination banh mi that I bought this weekend at Song Que:
It was tasty, yes, but I gotta think we’re missing out on some decadent banh mi in our parts.