The after-Thanksgiving turkey sandwich is an American institution, but might I be so bold as to suggest a change up this year?
It involves a chopped, savory, slightly sweet turkey with a spicy sriracha mayo and lots of pickled spicy veggies.
This Turkey Banh Mi will have you questioning your turkey sandwich roots!
Turkey Banh Mi
Equipment
Ingredients
- 8-10 inch baguette, toasted
- 1 cup cooked turkey meat, chopped
- 1 teaspoon soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons water
- 1 teaspoon fish sauce
- 1 teaspoon brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons mayonnaise
- 1 tablespoon sriracha
- Shredded carrots
- Shredded cucumber
- Sliced red onion
- Sliced peppers
- 2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
- Pickled jalapenos
- Fresh cilantro
- Salt and pepper
Instructions
- Shred all the crunchy veggies (carrots, peppers, cucumber, and pepper) and toss with rice wine vinegar and a pinch of salt. Let sit for 10 minutes.
- Slice baguette in half horizontally and toast it in a 400 degree oven for a few minutes until it’s golden brown.
- For sauce, stir together mayo and sriracha and the smear the dressing on the toasted baguette.
- Combine chopped turkey, water, fish sauce, soy sauce, and brown sugar in a small pot. Simmer over low heat until turkey is warmed through and liquid is mostly evaporated.
- Spread cooked turkey over half of the baguette and top with lots of sliced veggies.
- Garnish sandwich with jalapenos and cilantro. Top sandwich with top part of baguette and cut sandwich in half for easier eating. Serve immediately!
Nutrition
Did you make this recipe?
Turkey Banh Mi
Simmering the Turkey
Don’t bother making this Turkey Banh Mi unless you have some leftover turkey that’s already been cooked. It would be too involved to start from scratch. Luckily, you will almost certainly have some leftover turkey in the next 72 hours.
When you’re ready to make this bad boy, just roughly chop the turkey into bits.
In a small pot, simmer the turkey with the water, soy sauce, fish sauce, and brown sugar. Just simmer these ingredients over medium-low heat until the turkey has absorbed all those flavors.
Whatever you do, don’t leave out the fish sauce! It’s the most important ingredient.
The Fixins
While the turkey is simmering, you can prepare the other toppings for your Turkey Banh Mi. I used some shredded carrot, cucumber, onions, and peppers that I had. It wouldn’t take long to shred a few crunchy veggies though if you don’t have any left over.
You can use a box grater to make quick work of them and then just toss them with a few tablespoons of rice wine vinegar and a pinch of salt to quickly pickle them. Because they are so thin, you only need to let them sit for a few minutes.
Other toppings you’ll need:
Sriracha mayo, cilantro, jalapenos.
I literally just stirred a tablespoon of Sriracha into a few tablespoons of mayo. Done deal.
Making the Sandwich
There’s not much too it at this point. Slice your baguette in half and then toast it in a hot oven until it’s nicely browned.
Then slather it with the sriracha mayo. Don’t go light on this stuff!
Then pile on your simmered turkey, shredded veggies, pickled jalapenos and a few sprigs of cilantro.
The Turkey Banh Mi, it’s a thing of beauty!
Cover the sandwich with the top half of the baguette and cut it in half to make it easier to eat.
To be honest, I can easily eat both of these by myself, but maybe you could share with someone.
I know it’s asking a lot to change up the traditional turkey sandwich but I think this Turkey Banh Mi is worth it.
Save a few cups of turkey and make this guy on Friday!
Phyllis Busby
What is sriracha Mayo and were do you purchase thiss?
Sandra Tatsuno
Hi Phyllis! Sriracha is a type of hot sauce, and is named after the coastal city of Si Racha, in the Chonburi Province of Eastern Thailand. Ita following/popularity is lhere in the U.S. is now legend, and you can find it (clear squeeze bottle, adorned with its trademark rooster) in most supermarkets, either in the Asian section or somewhere in the condiments aisle. The recipe doesn’t call for sriracha mayo as such, but rather suggests adding the sriracha sauce to regular mayo. It is spicy hot, so if you decide to make the sandwich, taste a bit of the sauce first to judge your preferred amount! Hope this helps!
Sandra Tatsuno
Forgive the mess of typos! Yikes, lol.
Nick
Thanks for replying to this Sandra! You’re right. I just mix together the hot sauce and mayo usually in about a 1-4 ratio. :)
Patty
Sandra, thank you so much for posting this. It sounds amazing. My children and I have a tradition, once a month. I make a picnic lunch and drive up to Bellingham Washington about an hour and a half away from me. My son and daughter went to collage in this city and never moved back, they only live 10 minutes from each other. It great because my son, daughters & her husband are all best of friends. WE picnic on my sons coffee table when the weather is bad. The picnic always includes a great sandwich because their Father, my husband of 32 years loves sandwiches . I will try to report back how much everyone loved it.
Nick
That’s a great tradition Patty. Thanks for the comment. Hope you liked the sandwich if you tried it out!
Patty
ME TOO, Forgive the mess of typos! Yikes, lol.
Sandra Tatsuno
What a wonderful, time honored tradition, Patty, what a great family, so close! :) Love the “picnicking” around the coffee table! hehe Whichever sandwich(es) end up taking center stage, let us know how they were reviewed/received! Of course the most important part of the event, the family love and the friendship shared, is a given! Have fun!
Sandra~
Will
Yum! Definitely making this, but adding spinach.
Will
Definitely making this on Friday or Saturday! I’m going to add fresh spinach, too.