How Vietnam’s Banh Mi Sandwich Changes from the North to South — Regions

- [Dennis] The banh mi is an essential part

of Vietnamese culture, and possibly one of the most popular

Vietnamese dishes worldwide.

In the late 1880s, France colonized Vietnam

and brought the baguette.

Vietnamese bakers started adding dough enhancers

in order to produce more bread with less flour,

which gave us that light and airy texture

that we appreciate in the Vietnamese baguette.

I really actually did not enjoy eating

my own cultural food when I was growing up.

And the gateway dish for me, when I was growing up,

was the banh mi.

So we're going to visit three different chefs.

One representing from the north,

one from the central region, and one from the south,

to see what differentiates the banh mi

in the different regions.

And then I'm gonna take what I learned

and try to make a sandwich

that represents the entire country.

First up is Chef Daniel Le at Hanoi Soup Shop.

- The banh mis here in the U.S. are very dense.

We usually hollow out the bread,

and then you would start with a smear of pâté.

The next would be Vietnamese ham, cha lua.

Pretty much lean meat.

You would get a couple of slices,

and then you would get gio thu,

which is like a head cheese,

and then there would be a piece of egg.

This banh mi is already kind of stuffed.

There's three different proteins in here.

Traditionally, back in the days,

you'd usually either get either pâté and a slice of meat

and that would be completely it.

Everybody gets a little splash of Maggi.

- And Maggi seasoning is a seasoning

that was made from the Swiss,