Marcus Samuelsson’s Banh Mi Sandwich

Banh mi are like Vietnamese hoagies, served on baguette-style bread (bread you can thank French colonization for), with pickled veggies, house-cured or grilled meats, homemade mayonnaise, and hot peppers. The original sandwich was just pâté spread on a sliced baguette with sliced ham. The banh mi I find in my neighborhood— and that I make—is Saigon style. It’s a feast of contrasts: creamy chicken liver spread (perfumed with Madeira and bourbon), crunchy vegetables, mild roast chicken, and tangy pickled cabbage. If you really want to go overboard, add some sliced tongue.

DIRECTIONS

FOR THE CHICKEN LIVER SPREAD (ENOUGH FOR 8 SANDWICHES)

• 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened

• 1 pound chicken livers, cleaned

• 1 shallot, minced

• ¼ cup bourbon

• ¼ cup Madeira

• ¼ cup heavy cream

• ½ teaspoon kosher salt

• 1/8 teaspoon ground allspice

• 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

FOR THE BANH MI

• 2 tablespoons mayonnaise

• 1 teaspoon Sriracha sauce

• 1 long crisp French bread (baguette, ficelle, or your favorite crusty white bread)

• ½ pound leftover roasted chicken, shredded

• ¼ cup grated carrot

• ¼ cup grated cucumber

• ¼ cup (or more) Pickled Cabbage (page 294)

• Fresh cilantro leaves

MAKE THE CHICKEN LIVER SPREAD

1. Melt 1 tablespoon of the butter in a large skillet over high heat. Pat the chicken livers dry and add them and the shallot to the pan. Sauté until the livers are cooked but still pink inside, about 3 minutes. Scrape into a food processor.

2. Pour the bourbon and Madeira into the skillet, return to high heat, and reduce to about 3 tablespoons. Stir in the cream and take off the heat. Pour into the food processor. Add the salt, allspice, and pepper and process until finely chopped. With the processor running, drop in the remaining butter by tablespoons and process until all the butter is incorporated and the spread is smooth.

3. Scrape the liver spread into a bowl, cover, and refrigerate until cold and firm. Bring it to room temperature before serving.

MAKE THE BANH MI

1. Mix the mayonnaise and Sriracha together.

2. Cut the bread in half lengthwise. Slather the chicken liver spread on the bottom half (be generous) and the seasoned mayonnaise on the top half. Pile the chicken, carrot, cucumber, pickled cabbage, and cilantro (again, be generous) on the bottom half. Put the top on, slice the sandwich in half, and serve.

Pickled Cabbage

Makes about 10 cups

You can whip this pickle up in a matter of minutes on a Sunday afternoon and reap great rewards. It keeps for weeks in the fridge, and you can serve it with almost any casual dish—hot dogs and burgers, rotisserie chicken, a fried fish—any time you want vibrant red cabbage pickled with not just vinegar but lime juice, too, for layers of flavor. And then there’s the little bit of heat that sneaks in from the Scotch bonnet pepper. The more I talk about it, the more my mouth waters! I always have jars of this stuff in my fridge—small jars; they keep better that way.

2 cups apple cider vinegar

2/3 cup fresh lime juice

¾ cup water

¾ cup sugar

1 bay leaf

1 garlic clove, peeled

1 Scotch bonnet or habanero pepper, one side slit open with the tip of a knife

6 sprigs fresh thyme

1 head red cabbage, cored and thinly sliced

1. Bring the vinegar, lime juice, water, sugar, bay leaf, garlic, pepper, and thyme to a boil in a medium saucepan.

2. Put the cabbage in a large, heatproof bowl and pour the boiling pickling solution over it. Cover with plastic and set a plate on top to keep the cabbage submerged. Let sit for 2 hours. Pack into 1-pint jars and refrigerate for at least 3 hours before serving. The cabbage will keep for up to 1 month.