Plane Food: Banh Mi

Now that domestic US airlines no longer provide food on their flights (I've never in fact experienced food on domestic US flights since this was a phenomenon that existed prior to my time in the US), fliers have to rely on airport food to keep them going. However, most airport food makes me depressed. Don't ask me about the time I tried Wolfgang Puck's place at Chicago O'Hare. It was a globby gross nightmare. Should've known better than to try fettuccine alfredo at an airport.

So whenever I travel domestically, if I anticipate getting hungry, and I'm actually on top of things for a change, I pack my own food. This week, I'm off to Chicago and I'm bringing a banh mi. Banh mi are Vietnamese sandwiches, and for those who haven't tried it, when done right, it's one of the most perfect sandwiches ever. Packed with crisp cucumbers, pickled radish and carrots, cilantro, jalapenos, with meats varying from head cheese and pate to grilled pork, all sandwiched in a fresh baguette, it's a beautiful beautiful thing. However, recreating the banh mi at home means pickling my own radish, finding Vietnamese head cheese or grilling my own pork. Since I'll be taking this sandwich on a journey of sorts, I'm looking for easy ingredients I can find in my neighborhood. I made a test version of the banh mi I'm posting below, and I think it works. Called it banh mi inspired. Check it out below.

Ingredients:
1 small Italian hard roll from my local deli (a baguette is traditional and will sub just fine. I just didn't want to walk that far to get one)
1 sandwich's worth of mortadella
cilantro
slices of english cucumber (I prefer it, but you can put regular cukes in this)
sliced jalapeno (1 jalepeno will yield two sandwiches' worth unless you really like the heat)
pate and/or mayonaise
giardiniera (I'll explain below)

Recipe:
1. Giardiniera is an Italian pickle mix that comes with pickled cauliflower, carrots, celery, onions and hot peppers. I've found the pickled cauliflower and carrots to be a reasonable substitute for the traditional Vietnamese pickled carrots and radish, although those pickles tend to be sweeter than giardiniera. So go ahead and slice up some cauli and carrots for your sandwich.
2. Split your baguette or roll.
3. Smear pate on one side, mayo on the other if you prefer.
4. Layer with slices of mortadella, giardiniera, cucumbers, jalapeno, and cilantro.
5. Et voila! Eat and enjoy.

I had some fresh radish rolling around the fridge so I sliced a couple of those up and threw them in as well. It was deelish. I'm not a sucker for authenticity, only for deliciousness, so please don't yell me at that this isn't a real banh mi. I know it isn't, but I still think it tastes good. Will update with a photo tomorrow if I manage to get one. :)