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Bánh mì trứng with two sunny side up fried eggs, pork liver pâté, pickled daikon carrot, cucumber, cilantro and jalapeño on glass crust baguette
L. Nguyen

Bánh Mì Trứng (Fried Egg Bánh Mì)

Two eggs fried sunny side up in butter until the edges are lacy and crisp, layered with pork liver pâté, Vietnamese mayonnaise, pickled daikon and carrot, fresh cucumber, cilantro, and jalapeño on a Glass Crust baguette. The breakfast version. Fast, built on the same architecture as every other sandwich in the archive. [ BEGINNER ]
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Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 25 minutes
Servings: 4 bánh mì
Course: Sandwich
Cuisine: Vietnamese
Ingredients Equipment Method Notes

Ingredients
  

The Pickles
  • 200 g daikon radish, julienned 3mm wide
  • 200 g carrot, julienned 3mm wide
  • 120 ml unseasoned rice vinegar
  • 120 ml water
  • 30 g sugar
  • 8 g kosher salt
The Eggs
  • 8 large eggs
  • 2 tbsp unsalted butter
  • 2 tsp soy sauce
  • ½ tsp white pepper
The Assembly
  • 4 Vietnamese bánh mì baguettes (Glass Crust standard)
  • 4 tbsp Vietnamese mayonnaise
  • 60 g pork liver pâté
  • 1 small cucumber, sliced lengthwise into thin strips
  • 1 bunch fresh cilantro, stems trimmed
  • 2 jalapeños, sliced thin on a bias
  • Maggi Seasoning Sauce, for finishing

Equipment

  • Small pan
  • Mandoline slicer
  • Bread knife
  • Pâté Spreader / Offset Spatula

Method
 

Make the Pickles
  1. Combine rice vinegar, water, sugar, and salt in a small saucepan over medium heat. Stir until sugar and salt dissolve completely, 2 to 3 minutes. Do not boil. Remove from heat and let cool to room temperature, 15 minutes.
  2. Pack daikon and carrot into a clean jar. Pour brine over vegetables. The brine should cover the vegetables completely. Seal and refrigerate for a minimum of 1 hour. Two hours produces a better result. The pickles will keep for 2 weeks refrigerated.
Fry the Eggs
  1. Heat ½ tbsp butter in a small pan over medium heat. The butter should foam and then settle. Do not let it brown. Brown butter will overpower the egg.
  2. Crack 2 eggs into the pan. They should sizzle immediately on contact. If they do not, the pan is not hot enough.
  3. Add ½ tsp soy sauce around the edges of the eggs, not directly on the yolks. The soy sauce seasons the whites and creates the lacy crisp edges that define this sandwich.
  4. Cook until the whites are fully set and the edges are golden and slightly crisp, about 2 to 3 minutes. The yolks must remain runny. Do not flip. Do not cover.
  5. Remove from heat. Cook in four batches, one sandwich worth of eggs at a time. Season with white pepper.
Assemble
  1. Split each baguette lengthwise, cutting three-quarters through. Do not cut completely. The hinge holds the sandwich together.
  2. Open the bread. Apply Vietnamese mayonnaise to both cut surfaces. This is the fat barrier. It seals the bread and complements the egg yolk.
  3. Spread pâté on the bottom half only.
  4. Slide the fried eggs onto the pâté, yolk side up. Both eggs per sandwich. They should sit flat and cover the full length of the bread.
  5. Add cucumber strips across the eggs.
  6. Add pickled daikon and carrot. Drain them first. Excess brine combined with the egg yolk will oversaturate the bread.
  7. Add cilantro in whole sprigs. Do not chop it.
  8. Finish with jalapeño slices. Two to three per sandwich is the correct amount.
  9. Three drops of Maggi Seasoning Sauce across the top. No more. Close the sandwich. Press down firmly with your palm. The yolk will break and soak into the crumb. Serve immediately.

Notes

On the eggs: Use the freshest eggs available. Fresh eggs have tighter whites that hold their shape in the pan. Older eggs spread across the pan and produce thin, ragged whites that are harder to transfer to the baguette. The difference is visible immediately when the egg hits the butter.
On the butter: Unsalted butter is correct. The soy sauce provides all the salt the egg needs. Salted butter combined with soy sauce will oversalt the whites. Keep them separate.
On the yolk: The runny yolk is not optional. It is the sauce for this sandwich. An overcooked yolk produces a dry filling with no moisture to bind the other ingredients. Pull the eggs off the heat the moment the whites are set.
On the pâté: Pork liver pâté is the correct choice here. The recipe is on this site. If you do not have time to make it from scratch, Flower Brand pâté is the correct store-bought substitute. It is available at most Asian grocery stores and online.
On the pickles: The pickles in this recipe follow the same formula as the Đồ Chua recipe on this site. If you have a jar already made, use those. The brine in the ingredients list produces the correct result if you are making them fresh.
On make-ahead: The pickles can be made up to 2 weeks ahead. The eggs must be cooked to order. Do not fry the eggs in advance. A cold fried egg on a bánh mì is not the same sandwich.