Bun Me Guy

Technically it's, bánh mì gà but "bun me guy" is how it sounds in my Midwestern accent. Bánh mì gà is also just a fancy way to say chicken sandwich, but it is also a fancy chicken sandwich - like so much Vietnamese food, seemingly simple but thoughtfully complex.

My year of the sandwich continues: Lately my object of desire is the bánh mì, a Vietnamese term that refers to both the bread and sandwich served in the bread. The picnic or garden sandwich was a concept imported with the French colonials. French style baguettes stuffed with butter, veg and sparse amounts of heavily flavored meat like pâté (Friend of the Blog - Charlie Seluzicki will have more later this week on pâtés). 

The French were trying to recreate the foods of home in a foreign land. Before it was known as the bánh mì, it was called a French Sandwich, too expensive for most native Vietnamese. Once the colonialist departed/retreated to Europe, the sandwich changed.  The baguette understandably stayed, for it is universally good, but the imported and expensive cornichon was replaced by sweet and sour daikon and carrot pickles. Butter still is used for bánh mì, in Vietnam and more frequently the US, but it is expensive and reserved for special sandwiches, like the egg variety. Mayonnaise, my old nemesis, also possibly a French import, is used instead. And for a more sophisticated touch, Cilantro was added, occasionally peppers are used and on a more interpersonal level, the sandwich will reflect the maker. 

Oregon has the 12th largest Vietnamese population in the US, but because we are not a hugely populated state, it ends up being a higher percentage of Vietnamese in the general population, roughly 1 out of every 200 people in Oregon is 1st, 2nd or 3rd generation Vietnamese. This not only means I know more than a few people with the surname Nguyen, it also means that like the French, there are people who try to keep the taste of the homeland alive and a large enough population to support businesses like grocery stores, farms, restaurants and bakeries. 

I can walk 7 blocks to my favoritish place to buy groceries so load up up things like lemongrass, daikon, 

and bánh mì - although you can buy bánh mì, the sandwich, in this instance I mean bánh mì the baguette. Delivered everyday (around 11 am) from An Xuyen Bakery in SE Portland in their official delivery vehicle - an 89 Sentra) this bread is so very good. Lighter than air - I know it seems like a hackneyed cliche, but I have actually seen this bread floating, Lao Ving's owners actually need to weigh the bread down so it doesn't float away. It is light, it makes a snapping noise when you break it - it seems to be 3/4 crust, 100% goodness - the bánh mì loaf has become my go to loaf, even when I get all occidental make a western style sub - this bread especially the 4 inch wee-mì size is perfect for the meatball grinder. The 6 inch loaf works well for other sandwiches of garlic bread, bacon and egg about everything except peanut butter or grilled cheese. 

Photo from Portland Mercury

Maybe it is because the year of eating in means I am eating so many sandwiches, maybe my foodist love of all things Vietnamese biases me, but In a city full of great bakeries, that's right not just good but great bakeries, An Xuyen bánh mì has become a favorite. 


Charlie Seluzicki will be here with a post on pâtés this Friday. I'll be back next week with a couple of posts about grilled chicken and beer just in time for Labor Day.