Lunch was a pork bahn mi. Didn't want to cook. Didn't feel like salad. Wanted something that might cut through the cardboard and metal taste which is still in habiting my mouth (thanks COVID). Wanted something cheap and easy and vaguely healthy.
The other thing which was needed was access to about 20 grams of sugar. Being the day the kombucha tank is bottled, the sweet tea replaced along with the scoby, my sugar reserves were low. I was just that little bit short.
Joe at the bakery is a good lad. They know me there. I pop in for coffee regularly.
But I changed my order. I'd go for a roast pork Bahn Mi instead of chicken. And then, I asked in my nicest voice, if I could possibly buy half an espresso cup of sugar - explaining I was cooking something, and I'd come up a little short. Joe, the love gave me the sugar, free of charge. Nice man.
But the banh mi. Oh, the bahn mi. Sure, this is the bakery which is the newest on the block - it's not the one I normally go to for chicken bahn mi. The rolls, though fresh, aren't quite as crispy.
But the pork!
Oh my goodness. What is it with Chinese roast pork? Those flavours of Chinese Five Spice, Hoi Sin, garlic and who knows what else, all mixed in with pate, butter, a little bit of chilli, along with some cucumber and lightly pickled carrots and a stalk of coriander.
Utter bliss.
But now I'm thinking, could I make my own? How hard can it be? Looking at the recipe, it looks pretty easy. Hoisin sauce, Chinese Five Spice, garlic, honey. Mix, heat and marinade. I think this might have to be done.
Life is too short not to have bahn mi in your life.
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