Bánh mì Quesadillas

I let the cat out the bag last time that I, on occasion, do use meal delivery services. Because like you, I find it hard to be creative sometimes, I’m too lazy to go to the store, and too bored with myself to have to think at all. So, meal delivery- it works.

I’ll admit to being okay at following the recipes. You know I like to ad lib with it, so while sometimes I stay true to what I have been charged to make, sometimes I play Top Chef with it and see it as a big box of ingredients as a challenge to do with what I please. Last week was such an instance and I combined the roasted veg quesadillas and the bahn mi sandwiches to make bánh mì quesadillas with a sweet & spicy dipping sauce.

They were good! Different to be sure, but certainly no worse for it.

One thing I wanted to do to make it more true to an authentic bahn mi (which I still think about from my trip to Vietnam earlier this year) was to add a layer of mushroom or regular pate to the bottom of the quesadilla. But when I went to the store, all the containers were too large and since I don’t particularly enjoy pate on the reg, I didn’t want to buy a large quantity of something somewhat expensive to use essentially four tablespoons. That’s me being cheap, but if you think you’d be fine having extra pate laying around the house, then by all means add that to your layers.

I’ve never been particularly good at making quesadillas because I always went about it wrong. I’d omit the fold and simply use two full tortillas to sandwich together, resulting in an awkward fix, lost fillings and a shaggy looking messy (but tasty) meal. This time, I did it right by filling only half the tortilla, giving it a fold and a nice flip to create quesadillas looking just as right as they should. Crisped up in the pan with some oil, these little pockets came out pretty darn good.

The pork is a chop, marinated in the sauce that also serves as a dip later on, sweet & spicy:

shallot

garlic

brown sugar

lime juice

sambal oelek

As for the cheese, I used two kinds: Queso fresco and smoked cheddar, simply because that was what I had in the house, but I realized later that the smoky flavor from the cheese was really very nice, so while you can use whatever cheese you fancy or have on hand, a smoked varietal adds a little bit of a different touch.

The inside is simply dressed with an onion salad. You know the kind. I like an onion salad in these parts:

onions

carrots

cukes

vinegar

sugar

Layer ’em, cook ’em, dip ’em, eat ’em.

(For other quesadillas-of-random-flavor-and-origin, see these Cuban quesadillas and these BBQ pulled pork quesadillas)

That’s how that goes. Bánh mì Quesadillas for the win!

Bánh mì quesadillas.

July 25, 2018

Servings: 2

Total: 40 min

Difficulty: Easy

East meets southwest as the flavors of Vietnam and Tex Mex come together in these easy sweet and spicy Bánh mì quesadillas.

By: Chrissy

Ingredients

2 boneless pork chops
1 TB soy sauce
1 TB sambal oelek
1 lime, juiced
1 shallot, minced
3 cloves garlic, diced
1 medium onion, sliced thin (about 1 cup)
1 carrot, grated
1 cucumber, sliced into discs
3 TB vinegar
1 TB sugar
1 lime, juiced
1/2 cup water
4 tortillas
2 ounces queso fresco, crumbled
2 ounces smoked cheddar cheese, grated
scallions, to garnish

Directions

Step 1 Place the soy sauce, sambal oelek, 1 lime, shallot, and garlic in a small bowl. Give it a good mix.
Step 2 In a plastic bag, add the pork chops and 1/2 of the sauce. Marinate 30 minutes.
Step 3 Preheat the broiler to high. On a foil lined pan, cook the chops 7 minutes. Flip and cook another 5 minutes. Set aside to rest.
Step 4 While the pork is cooking, prepare the salad. In a bowl, place the onion, carrot and cucumber. In a microwave safe measuring cup, add the vinegar, sugar, water and lime juice. Microwave about 2 minutes until the sugar is dissolved. Pour over the onion mixture and toss to coat. Set aside for 15 minutes.
Step 5 Once the pork has rested, cut into thin slices.
Step 6 Place the tortillas on a work surface. to one side of each tortilla, place the crumbed queso, sliced pork, onion salad and grated cheddar. Fold each tortilla in half over the filling.
Step 7 In a large pan over medium heat, add a drizzle of olive oil. Add the quesadillas and cook 2-4 minutes per side until the cheese is melted. Give it a flip and cook another 2-4 minutes until golden and melty. Repeat with remaining quesadillas.
Step 8 Serve with remaining dipping sauce/marinade.