Banh Mi Dac Biet (Cold Cuts Banh Mi)
For many in the Vietnamese community, the most traditional banh mi recipe is banh mi dac biet, a cold cut banh mi made with special cold cuts, pickled veggies, and fresh herbs. It is a special sandwich because it is not only packed full of flavor, but also very easy to make taking only 20 minutes and involving little to no cooking. In this blog post, learn how to make this easy recipe, including how to adjust the fillings to your tastes.
Growing up Vietnamese, we are basically eating banh mi sandwiches from the womb. Not actually but pretty close. They are so many types of banh mi from beef to chicken to vegetarian, but the one I grew up having was banh mi dac biet or cold cut banh mi. This sandwich is filled with the same fillings as the other ones, but the protein comes in the form of cold cuts!
What I like in my banh mi dac biet
This banh mi variation is special to the Vietnamese community and can be found up and down the streets of Vietnam. Banh mi dac biet literally translates to special banh mi. Personally, I like it with cold cuts (a combination of sliced ham, cha lua, and head cheese), cucumbers, pickled carrots and daikon, and cilantro on a fresh Vietnamese baguette smeared with mayonnaise and Vietnamese pate. All these ingredients can be found at Asian grocery stores or on online Asian grocery delivery services, so this recipe also doesn’t require any cooking. Feel free to make any component of this dish if you want to though!
Some deets about key ingredients
As a general note, feel free to adjust the ingredients to your liking. If you don’t like one, leave it out!
- Baguettes – Traditionally, Vietnamese baguettes are used for this recipe which have thinner, more tender skin than French baguettes. However, feel free to use French baguettes if that is all you can find.
- Ham (or any kind of sliced pork) – This is perhaps the hardest ingredient to find. Vietnamese sliced pork can typically be found at Asian supermarkets, but if you can’t find it, use any kind of deli ham.
- Head cheese and cha lua – The other cold cuts are typically head cheese and cha lua. Both are commonly found at most Asian markets. For the cold cuts, if there are any you don’t like, feel free to leave them out.
How to make banh mi dac biet
Did you make this dish?
If you made this dish, I would love to see!
Follow Cooking Therapy on Instagram, snap a photo, and tag and hashtag it with @cooking__therapy and #beccascookingtherapy.
Stay connected and follow along on Facebook, Pinterest, and Instagram for all my latest recipes.
Disclaimer: If you purchase anything through a link on this site, I may receive a small commission from the purchase at no extra cost to you. I only recommend products that I would personally use. Thank you so much for the support!
Get the Recipe:
Banh Mi Dac Biet (Cold Cuts Banh Mi)
Ingredients
- 4 baguettes
- ¼ cup pate
- ¼ cup mayonnaise
- 8 slices ham, or thin slices of any sliced pork
- 8 slices head cheese, thin slices
- 8 slices cha lua, thin slices
- ½ cup pickled daikon
- ½ cup pickled carrots
- ½ cup cucumbers, thinly sliced
- ¼ cup cilantro
- 1 jalapeno, thinly sliced
Instructions
- Toast 4 baguettes. Slice them in half and toast them for 2-3 minutes.
- Smear 1 tablespoon of pate (1/4 cup total) and 1 tablespoon (1/4 cup total) of mayonnaise on the inside of the bread.
- Add 2 slices each of the ham, head cheese, and cha lua. Top with 2 tbsp each of pickled daikon and carrots, 2 tbsp of cucumbers, 1 tbsp of cilantro, and a few slices of jalapeno. Repeat this process for each sandwich.
- Serve!