🍄 Ingredient Notes
Banh mi bread
A good bánh mì starts with an authentic loaf of Vietnamese baguette. French baguettes or sandwich rolls just don’t compare.
The reason for that is because bánh mì has a much thinner crust and a super light crumb. It feels like it weighs nothing, and that makes all the difference. Forget about a dense and heavy crumb – Vietnamese baguette barely has any, allowing for a higher filling ratio to bread.
Where to find it: That’s the tricky part. Getting your hands on baguettes that taste like the ones from Vietnam is not an easy task. Your best option is to make your own by following my banh mi bread recipe or checking if you have Vietnamese bakeries around.
King oyster mushrooms
The star of this recipe. Did you know that king oyster mushrooms, once shredded, imitate wonderfully the texture of pulled pork?! They get super meaty and slightly chewy!
In this recipe, I shred them using a fork into thin strips before tossing them with oil and baking them for a few minutes until slightly dryer. This step not only adds the necessary fat to make them taste more convincing but also increases the meatiness factor.
Note: For this recipe, I used 3 large king oyster mushrooms that weighed a total of 7.5 ounces (215g). If your mushrooms are smaller, you may need to use 4-5 to reach that weight.
Where to buy: King oyster mushrooms can be found in well-stocked produce markets or in the refrigerated section of most Asian supermarkets.
Sweet and salty sauce
To season the mushrooms, I toss them with a sweet and salty sauce infused with five-spice powder, giving them an addicting char siu flavor! The sauce packs bold, savory flavors and reinforces the meatiness of the mushrooms.
Making the sauce only requires simple staple ingredients such as soy sauce, sugar, shallots, garlic, and five-spice powder.
Make it smoky! If you love smoky notes as much as I do, you can add 1/8 teaspoon of liquid smoke to the sauce.