I was down in Melbourne last week and I had some amazing Vietnamese Bahn Mi sandwiches. Amazing roast pork with light, crispy, crunchy crackling with fresh and crunchy pickled vegetables and chilli sauce. They were so good.

So needless to say that inspired me to make my own. For this recipe I’m going to do it with Roast Chicken but as soon as I’ve tried it with roast pork I’ll add in what I’ve done. You can use the same marinade for pork but to get the crispy crackling ras I want it still alludes me. I’ll get thought. Mark my words! It will be up on here as soon as I do.

So first up the chicken. Figure out how many rolls you want to make and use 3-4 Chicken legs per roll. Get good Organic Free range chicken. Now for the marinade. You will need;

• Light Soya Sauce or Kikkoman Soya Sauce as I believe it is the best.
• Dark Soya Sauce
• Ground Ginger – 1 Tsp
• Fresh Ginger – 5-6 slices
• Garlic – 2 cloves
• White Pepper
• Black Pepper
• Sweet Soya Sauce

Mix all this up together and pour over the chicken, cover and let sit for as long as you can wait. Overnight is great but 2 hours will do. If you have time then give it a toss around occasionally.
Now for the Pickled vegetables. You will need.

• White Radish – Cut into 7-8cm matchsticks, about .5cm thick
• Carrots – Cut into 7-8cm matchsticks, about .5cm thick
• Fresh Coriander – Roughly Chop
• Fresh Ginger – 5-6 Slices
• White Wine Vinegar – 2 Cups
• Water – 4 Cups
• Organic Panela Sugar or Coconut Sugar – 1/2 Cup
• Maldon Salt – 2 Tsp

1. Combine the Vinegar, Salt, Water and sugar to a pan and bring to a simmer then turn off the heat and allow to cool completely. Once cooled, add to a dish with the carrots, coriander, ginger and radish. Cover and let sit in the fridge for at least 2 hours. Preferably overnight. This will keep for 5-6 days I think. I’m currently running an experiment by eating it every day until I get ill. There must be a better way but I figure it’s one way of finding out. It’s what I’m doing with my Satay Sauce 🙂

Now take your marinaded chicken and pop in an oven roasting dish. Just remove the chicken from the marinade and spoon over the chicken. Just a small amount will do. Cover and roast for 30-40 mins on 180°C. Remove from the oven, keep covered and let it rest for about 30 mins.
Ok so now for the rolls. You will need;

• Fresh baguette long roll
• Cucumber – Sliced into thin strips
• Spring Onion  – Sliced into thin strips
• Fresh Coriander – Roughly Chopped
• Red Chilli (Optional) – sliced
• Chilli Sauce – I’ve been using Beerenberg Chilli Sauce – It’s awesome.
• Nam Jim Chilli Jam
• Half a Lemon

Combine some of the Nam Jim Chilli Jam and the Chilli Sauce and juice from the lemon.  Take your chicken legs and pop on an oven roasting dish.  Brush some of the chilli sauce mixture over the legs and pop in the oven on 220°C for 10-12 mins. Remove from the oven and shred the chicken from the legs. Put to one side.

Now get your baguette and heat through in the oven. Slice lengthways and butter both sides. Add some of the pickled veggies, coriander, spring onion and cucumber. Add the chicken then more spring onion, veggies and cucumber. Drizzle some of the chilli sauce mixture over the top and finish with a sprinkle of coriander. Sorted. So simple (kind of) and so tasty and fresh.