Recipe for roasted eggplant banh mi

Karoline Boehm Goodnick for The Boston Globe

July 31, 2012

1 minute to read

Serves 4

Banh mi, the popular Vietnamese sandwich, is traditionally meaty (some contain two kinds of pork, both liver and roast meat). This classic street food is also delightfully crunchy with pickled root vegetables, creamy with seasoned mayonnaise, and aromatic with cilantro. Here, banh mi goes vegetarian with roasted eggplant cubes. In a hot oven, the vegetable cooks without soaking up excess oil, and it’s ready to absorb spoonfuls of a flavorful Asian dipping sauce. With soy sauce, fish sauce, rice wine vinegar, chili-garlic sauce, and fresh ginger, the sauce combines sweet, salty, and sour tastes in one bowl. Add some to the mayonnaise to season it, and stir in carrot matchsticks, cucumber, jalapeno, and scallions. Vietnamese bakeries make special baguettes that have lots of crust and not too much crumb, or use a crusty French loaf, and you’ll understand why this Southeast Asian classic is the sandwich of the moment.

SAUCE

¼cup soy sauce1tablespoon fish sauce¼cup rice wine vinegar1½teaspoons chili-garlic sauce (such as sriracha)1small piece (½ inch) fresh ginger, finely chopped 1clove garlic, finely chopped 1scallion, thinly sliced1½teaspoons sugar

1. In a small bowl, combine soy and fish sauces, rice wine vinegar, chili-garlic sauce, ginger, garlic, scallion, and sugar.

2. Whisk well; set aside.

SANDWICHES

3small eggplant, cut into ½-inch cubes1tablespoon peanut or canola oil Black pepper, to taste½cup mayonnaise1carrot, cut into fine matchsticks½cucumber, thinly sliced1jalapeno or other chili pepper, cored and thinly sliced4scallions, thinly sliced1large baguette, split horizontally½bunch cilantro, leaves removed¼cup peanuts, chopped

1. Set the oven at 425 degrees. Have on hand a rimmed baking sheet.

2. In a large bowl, toss eggplant with peanut or canola oil and black pepper. Spread on the baking sheet. Roast for 20 minutes.

3. Transfer to a bowl. While eggplant is hot, add all but 3 tablespoons of the sauce; toss well.

4. In another bowl, stir mayonnaise with the remaining 3 tablespoons sauce. Add carrot, cucumber, jalapeno, and scallions; toss well.

5. Layer dressed vegetables and eggplant on the baguette. Garnish with cilantro and peanuts. Cut into 4 sandwiches. Karoline Boehm Goodnick