Banh Mi - the best sandwich ever?

Banh Mi is one of the best street foods to come out of Vietnam and truly defines the meaning of 'fusion cuisine'. Besides, it is probably be one of the best sandwiches I may have ever tasted. It involves combining ingredients that one wouldn't typically expect to used together under the hood of a single sandwich! The best banh mi starts with slitting open a warm crusty slim Franco-Vietnamese baguette - made out of wheat and rice flour (which gives it soft insides and a perfect crackly crust on the outside); and loading it with asian and pseudo euro fillings. Consider this classic version called the 'banh mi thit nuong' it features - hold your breath- bits of sweet glaze barbequed pork, pate paste, creamy mayonnaise, hot 'Sriracha' (hot chilli garlic sauce), Vietnamese ham, sweet, crunchy pickled carrots, daikon, cucumber and chopped jalapenos with a sprig of cilantro (coriander) added for a finish. Its difficult to imagine all of this coming together but somehow; just somehow, the rich meats, the cold refreshing vegetables, tangy fish sauce ('nuoc mam'), and the creamy mayo notes accompanied by a sudden final jab of the spicy chillis and searingly hot Sriracha all meld together to create the perfect knockout sandwich concoction I've eaten! Non pork eaters can find versions made with Chicken, tofu and vegetables. In fact, there are creative additions like 'catfish' and 'sloppy bao' at the new 'Baoguette Cafe' in New York city.

Some of the best examples are available in New York city can be found at:

In Manhattan:

Banh Mi So 1: 369 Broome St. New York NY 10013

Saigon Bakery: 138 Mott St. New York NY 10013

Baoguette : 61 Lexington Ave. New York NY (between 25th and 26th st.)

In Brooklyn: Ba Xuyen: 4222 8th Ave. Brooklyn NY

Other Viet hotspots to the left of the Atlantic hold their own; Houston with 'Les Givrals' and 'Saigon', LA with 'Banh Mi Do Thanh' and San Fran with Saigon Sandwich on Larkin St. Toronto and Vancouver have their favs too.