Spicy Vietnamese Chicken Sandwich

I really have to say I dug these sandwiches.  Yes, I am going to complain about some things, mainly so if you make these, you won't have reason to be annoyed with them, but this is an awesome take on a Bahn Mi type sandwich.  Now we adore bahn mi, so this was going to be a popular dish in the house, but because we are going to compare this to one of our all time favorite meals, there could be some disparaging comments.  There weren't! We all enjoyed it, a lot!  Ok on to the complaining! If you follow the cooking directions, you need to cook the chicken in one batch.  If you split it in to two batches, like I needed to because of the  size of my grill pan, you will have some burnt mayo in the bottom for your second batch.  It wasn't horrible, but it was a bit smelly and stuck to some of the second batch chicken.  Also, the shallots cooked way faster than the chicken and they were almost, and by almost I meant just over the line burnt!  I I cooked the second batch without the shallots and finished them by themselves after the chicken was done.  Now complaints aside, it was a pretty rocking sandwich!  And aside from the hour to marinate and pickle, they were pretty fast.  If you don't have a mandolin, then you can buy shredded carrots and it will be even faster.


 

Spicy Vietnamese Chicken Sandwiches

3/4 Lb skinless boneless chicken breast, sliced 1/4 inch
2 Tbl soy sauce
1 Tbl mayonnaise plus more for spreading
1 large shallot thinly sliced
2 carrots halved crosswise and thinly sliced lengthwise
1/2 Cup pickled cocktail onions halved, plus 1/4 cup of the pickling liquid
One 10-ounce baguette split lengthwise and toasted
Sriracha or other hot sauce for spreading
1 Kirby cucumber very thinly sliced lengthwise
Cilantro sprigs

1. In a bowl, toss the chicken with the soy sauce, 1 tablespoon of
mayonnaise and the shallot. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour.
2. Meanwhile, in another bowl, mix the carrots with the pickled onions
and their liquid and let stand for 1 hour.
3. Heat a grill pan. Grill the chicken and shallot slices over high heat
until charred and the chicken is just cooked through, about 2 minutes
per side.
4. Spread mayonnaise on the cut sides of the baguette, then spread with
Sriracha. On the bottom half, layer the carrots, onions and cucumber,
then top with the chicken and shallots. Lay cilantro sprigs over the
chicken and close the sandwich. Cut crosswise into 6 pieces and serve.