The Meatwave

I was late to jump on the banh mi bandwagon, so much so that the all out craze they had going so many years ago was breathing its last breath when I finally joined. Still, my first taste of one of these Vietnamese sandwiches was a revelation—the contrast between the sweet and salty meat, pickled diakons and carrots, fresh cilantro, and airy, crusty bread was nothing short of spectacular. Whether in or out of food fashion, I still think these are royalty among sandwiches, deserving continued prominence, which is why I'm bringing you this grilled steak banh mi today.

I have a beef with steak sandwiches—all too often they're too chewy and difficult to bite off, making what would be a good steak seem bad. So when considering a path for this banh mi, I wanted to get a cut that balances flavor, tenderness, and cost to get the best beef for the application. I found a good choice in the sirloin tip, which isn't actually part of the sirloin, but really the top part of the round, next to the sirloin area. While a little tough when used a steak, cut into thin slices, sirloin tip is perfect for things like stir-fry or sandwiches.

The sirloin tip has a relative mild beefiness, which was fine here because I wanted the meat to pick up a lot of its flavor from marinated. A strong mixture of fish sauce, sugar, shallot, garlic, and black pepper made up this ubiquitous Vietnamese marinade that has amazing power to inject anything it touches with a complex sweet and salty flavor.

In just an hours time, the beef picks up a lot of what the marinade has to offer. I like to push mine more though—letting the steak marinate overnight—to really flavor the meat throughout.

On the grill these little pieces of steak cooked up fast. To avoid over cooking, which leads to dry and chewy steak, I used the fire when it was at its hottest point. This let me get a nice sear very fast, keeping a still rosy center by the time a nicely brown crust formed on the outside.

Those browned beauties of sirloin tip were then piled onto baguettes and topped with cilantro, pickled carrots and daikons, and a spread of Sriracha mayo. This was representative of all the power of a banh mi—with just a few ingredients, the mixture of flavors and textures was immense. Slightly pungent, slightly sweet beef mingled with tart and crunchy pickles, fresh cilantro, creamy and spicy mayo, and crusty bread. The experience was like taking a trip deep into the depths of flavor country, and I, for one, never want to leave.

Published on Tue Mar 19, 2013 by Joshua Bousel

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