Pork Belly Banh Mi | Mendocino Farms

I first got word about this lunch spot in downtown LA from Chau, who raved about how yummy their pork belly banh mi sandwich was. Unfortunately, Ray and I never get a chance to make it out there during the work week so when Chau shared their recipe with me, I knew I had to try and make it. The recipe calls for Kurobota pork, which is how the restaurant serves it but I was limited in supermarket choices and ended up just grabbing some cheap pork belly from the local Asian supermarket.

 
Mendocino Farms Pork Belly Banh Mi

adapted from LA Times

Meat

10 cloves garlic, peeled

1 1/2 inch piece of ginger, peeled and thinly sliced

1 1/2 cups sake

1 cup packed brown sugar

1 cup soy sauce

3 pounds skinless pork belly

Sandwich

4 ciabatta rolls, halved

1/2 cup chipotle aioli

1 1/3 cups braised pork belly

1 1/3 cups pickled carrot and daikon

1/2 cup julienned cucumber

4 teaspoons chopped cilantro

1 jalapeño sliced, more to taste

Directions

Heat the oven to 275 degrees. Mix together the garlic, ginger, sake, brown sugar and soy sauce in a large, nonreactive, oven-proof pot or casserole. Add the pork and just enough water to cover the pork completely. 

Cover the pot with 2 layers of foil (and the casserole lid, if using) and cook for 2 to 3 hours, until the pork is fork-tender. Remove the pork from the braising liquid and place in a nonreactive dish. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.

Cut the pork belly into lardons (1 inch-by- 1/2 inch-by- 1/2 inch). 

Note: The instructions per Menocino Farms was to place the lardons into a large, heavy-bottom sauté pan and cook over medium-high heat, stirring frequently until their edges slightly crisp and the fat is mostly rendered, about 10 minutes. However, I didn't want to scrub any pans so we opted with throwing the meats on a foil-lined sheet and broiling them in the oven.

For the chipotle mayo, I wasn't able to find any at the Asian supermarket so I did the next best thing - mix spicy siracha sauce into our mayo. It was incredibly delicious (mostly because we used home-made mayo that we made from an Alton Brown recipe).

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Spread each ciabatta half with 1 tablespoon of the aioli. Divide the pork belly among the 4 bottom ciabatta halves (one-third cup per sandwich), then top with the pickled vegetables. Sprinkle evenly with the cucumber, and repeat with the cilantro.

Cover each sandwich with the remaining ciabatta bread.

Grill the sandwiches using a panini press or on a grill over medium heat and weighted with something heavy (like a cast-iron skillet).



When I took my first bite, I was speechless. OMG, it was SO delicious! The marinade is similar to a soy-sake glaze that is typically used with cuts of fish like sea bass, cod or salmon. However, when paired with rich, fatty pork belly, it was just, if not more, yummy. The home-made mayo also made a big difference and definitely altered the taste of the sandwich. Our mayo had more acidity and tang than its store-bought counterpart so the flavors all balanced out nicely. The sandwich is too rich to eat on a regular basis but will definitely make this again for the next dinner party. We will also try and make our way to Mendocino Farms soon to try the original version and all the other tasty items on the menu.