Vietnamese Bahn Mi with Chilli oil 

I love making food from scratch and this is one such recipe that I attempted everything from scratch. Baking the buns are so much fun, never disappoints (even though there migh be unsuccessful attempts if you are new to baking breads, but that's how you learn to do things) and the bonus being the house smells amazing.

 I felt these Bahn Mi are more like Vietnam based Baguette bread, with a crispy crust and super soft airy texture inside. The baguette bread/ Bahn Mi is madeccrusty by spraying water during the process of baking.

As for the filling, it is usually smeared with mayo, ham, pickled veggies, a drizzle of your favorite seasoning, here I used home made chilli oil. Bahn Mi is split lengthwise and stuffed with ingredients that your heart desires , with your favorite protein, so it makes a great meal itself. We have this for lunch usually , if I prepare the buns, the night before. I like my sandwich to feel fresh and feel good. So I added in sliced cucumbers along with pickled veggies.

Though the recipe looks like it has a lot of steps, it's very easy to prepare yet s delicious, with all the sweet, sour ,salty flavors marrying into each other.

Ingredients :

For Bahn Mi -

• 2 cups Flour / Patent Flour
• 1 cup Water
• 1 1/2 tsp Instant Yeast
• 1 1/2 tsp Salt
• 1 tsp Sugar
• 2 1/2 tbsp Butter
• 1 Large egg
  

• 3-4 Garlic cloves, chopped finely
• 2 tsp Red chilli flakes
• 1 Tsp White Sesame seeds
• 1 tsp Black pepper, crushed
• 1/4 Cup Vegetable Oil, boiling hot

• 250 gms Tender Chicken Breast
• 1 Garlic clove, minced
• 1 tsp Black Pepper Powder
• 1 tsp Honey
• 1 Tbsp Soy Sauce 
• 1 tsp Tomato Ketchup

• 1 Carrot, sliced thin (pickled by adding the carrots to a solution of 1/2 cup sugar, 1/4 cup white vinegar, 1 tsp salt, and 1 cup water for 10 minutes)
• 1 Cucumber, sliced lengthwise
• Mayo, as required
• Sriracha sauce, as required
• Red Chilies, sliced into round

1. In a stand mixer, or a large bowl mix the dry ingredients and add in your melted butter, mix well again.
2. Next add in your water and egg and place your dough hook.
3. For around 2 minutes, put the speed setting to 2, until well combined.    
4. After that your dough will be teary and falling apart.
5. Knead the dough for 10 minutes on speed setting 6, it should be elastic and not falling apart.
6. If the dough still falls from the hook, continue to knead for anoth 4-5 minutes . Your dough be elastic, yet might be a little sticky.
7. Scrape the dough from the stand mixer and place on a greased bowl by shaping into a smooth ball.
   
   
   
8. Spray the dough with oil and seal the bowl with a cling wrap and allow to rise for 30 minutes. 
   
   
   
9. Grease the counter top/ working mat and divide the dough into 6 equal parts , which will now look like fat triangles. Bang the dough on the counter top so that you get an elongated triangle. 
   
   
   
10. 
11. Now roll the dough from the pointy area to the inside and keep pinching from the sides while you do that. Place on a baking paper lined baking pan.
12. Grease the prepared Bahn Mis, cover with a towel and allow to rest for around 1 hour.
    
    
    
13. Preheat the oven to 210 deg C and place a water bath to create steam, it is placed at the lowest rack.
14. Spray the Bahn Mi with water so that the blade/rzor can glide through easily. Cut the bread slightly from a 45 deg angle and spray the openings with water again. 
15. Now place the Bahn Mis in the oven and bake for around 25 minutes, keeping an eye after 23 minutes. (different oven have different temperature)
16. Remove the water bath/ tray from the oven around 10 minutes before removing the bread from the oven.
17. Brush with melted butter. Once cool, you may wrap the Bahn Mis in foil if ypu do not intend to use immediately .Slit lengthwise, and enjoy the crispy outer cover with a soft and fluffy insides. Enjoy with your picked veggies, favorite protein and dressing of your choice.
    
    
    
18. To make the chicken, marinate the chicken with the ingredients mentioned above and grill for around 5-6 minutes until cooked well. Slice into thin strips.
    
    
    
19. To make the chilli oil, into a heat proof bowl place all your ingredients under chilli oil and pour in your hot oil and allow the flavors to infuse in the oil.