Banh Mi Chay- vegan South East Asian street food Gangnam style!

Lashings of tofu mayo, slices of succulent seitan and piles of spicy salad and pickle make this banh mi a satisfying  complete meal

Actually, this now world- famous sandwich is more likely to be found in its vegetarian/ vegan version in Buddhist temples rather than on the street, but in an alternative universe where everyone is vegetarian, this would definitely be a popular street snack. I chose seitan as the protein here, but I have heard it is also very good with tofu. I would like to think it classy enough to be considered "Gangnam Style"...! (Look for Gangnam Style on youtube if you don't know what I mean.) Banh mi is made with baguette and mayonnaise, which were introduced to Vietnam by the French. (I would have preferred to use wholemeal, but I couldn't get any on the day I made this.) Kimchi is a Korean vegetable pickle which I think lends itself very well to this sandwich, and adds that spicy K-Pop wow factor ;) So my banh mi is truly a fusion dish. Horse-riding dance, anyone- this sandwich should give you plenty of energy?! 

I used my Magimix to get the slices and shreds thin

Use plenty of fillings for each person!

This recipe serves 4 people, and needn't take long if you haev made the seitan and tofu in advance:

1 long baguette/ French stick, cut into 4 pieces which are then sliced lengthways

 Seitan made with 1 kg flour- click here to learn how to make it

A half quantity of tofu-miso mayo- click here for the recipe

1/4 long cucumber

1 bunch fresh coriander (cilantro)

Grated daikon (mooli), or -as shown here- a mix of grated pink radish and celeriac is good

kimchi- click here for the recipe- or miso mixed with chilli. Add these according to your taste, as they provide the spicy kick to this sandwich.

• Bake the seitan in a shallow ovenproof dish with some of the leftover stock from making it at 200C until liquid is absorbed, turning once.
• Meanwhile prepare the salad veg. as shown in the picture above. The cucumber needs to be sliced thinly and the radish shredded.
• Make the mayo in your blender and set aside.
• You can either keep the seitan warm and also warm the bread, or serve the banh mi cold, as I did. (Cold seemed right because of the raw veg.)
• Assemble the sandwiches by spreading the bread with mayo, laying on the seitan and topping with salad and pickle/ chilli miso.
• Make sure your sandwich is full to bursting with crunchy veg, oozing mayo and spicy flavours and don't eat it in public :/