Recipes

Vegan Banh Mi with Walnut Paté

Serves 4

| Prep Time: 30 mins

| Cook Time: 20 mins

| Total Time: 1 hour 30 mins

You may need: Laotian Larb

Discover The Recipe

Banh Mi is a traditional Vietnamese sandwich that is a fusion of authentic Vietnamese flavors and European ingredients. Owing to the colonial French influence on Vietnamese cuisine, Banh Mi are delightful sandwiches exploding with flavors from typical Vietnamese proteins like pork sausage, marinated meats, native herbs and pickled vegetables, and French condiments like pate and mayonnaise. Our recipe for a Banh Mi with Walnut Pate sandwich is a plant-based delight. Seared tofu, creamy walnut pate, and tangy, crisp pickled vegetables served on a soft, chewy baguette will make an unforgettable lunch meal you will want to make again.

The star of this hearty sandwich is the pate that includes our Laotian Larb spice blend, perfect to add Southeast Asian flavor to many dishes. Our chef develops layers of flavor in the pate from toasted walnuts, earthy palm hearts, sesame oil, garlic, fresh chives, and the Larb spice - a perfect spread to imbue flavor to your baguette. Larb’s key ingredient is toasted rice, adding a nutty flavor. Made from rice that is dry-roasted in a wok, then typically pounded in a mortar until it's a coarse powder, our blend saves you all the time and effort with an easy to use spice. Try using it in our traditional Laotian Larb or Mushroom Larb recipes.

Ingredients

For the Walnut Paté:
1 - 14 oz can hearts of palm
8 oz toasted walnuts
1 tsp sea salt
2 tsp Piquant Post Laotian Larb
1 tsp rice wine vinegar
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 Tbsp sesame oil
Black pepper to taste
2 Tbsp chopped chives
For the Quick Pickled Veggies:
4 medium carrots, peeled and julienned
2 small watermelon radish, peeled and julienned
1/2 cucumber, julienned
1 cup rice vinegar
1 cup agave or brown sugar
1 cup water
Pinch sea salt
For the Pan Seared Tofu:
1 Tbsp sesame oil
12 oz firm tofu cut into 1/2” slabs
1 Tbsp mirin
1 Tbsp agave
Pinch sea salt
For the Vegan Banh Mi Baguette:
2 baguette
1 recipe Paté (see above)
1 recipe pan seared tofu (see above)
Garnish: cilantro, mayonnaise, sliced jalapeños, fresh cucumber slices

Notes

The quick pickles can be made with lots of different veggies, including daikon radish, red onion, parsnips and fennel.

Instructions

For the paté, place the hearts of palm, walnuts, sea salt, Piquant Post Laotian Larb, rice wine vinegar, garlic, sesame oil, and black pepper. Purée until the mixture is smooth. Transfer to a medium mixing bowl and mix in the chopped chives. Adjust the seasoning to taste. Chill before serving,

To make the quick pickled veggies, julienne the carrots, watermelon radish and cucumber and transfer to a large mixing bowl and set aside. In a medium saucepan, add the rice vinegar, agave, water and salt. Bring to a boil and pour over the julienned veggies. Allow to sit for 1 hour. Refrigerate completely before using.

To make the pan seared tofu, heat the sesame oil in a skillet.

Add the sliced tofu and cook on one side until crispy and golden. Flip the tofu and add the tamari, mirin, agave and salt to the pan. Allow the liquid to cook down and coat both sides of the tofu. Cook until crispy and browned on both sides. Set aside until ready to build the sandwiches.

To make the baguette sandwich, slice the baguettes lengthwise and toast in a toaster oven. To build the sandwiches, spread one side of the bread with mayo and the other side generously with paté. Add the pan seared tofu to the sandwich and then top with pickles, sliced cucumber, cilantro and jalapeños.

Alternatives & Substitutions

If you don’t like tofu, you can simply make this with more veggies and avocado for an even healthier result! Traditionally, a Banh Mi is made with pork, but is great with shrimp or even crispy pan fried fish filets!
Looking for more recipes to use the Laotian Larb spice blend? Try our vegan Mushroom Larb recipe or our traditional Larb. Or try our beautiful and aromatic Nam Tok (Thai Beef Salad), our Crying Tiger Steak with Thai Dipping Sauce, or our Pineapple Fried Rice with Larb Tofu recipes.
Try making this Banh Mi sandwich as a wrap in a flour tortilla or as a bowl over rice! The flavors are great either way.
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