New York City is currently experiencing an exciting banh mi renaissance. Chefs of Vietnamese decent, as well as those who are inspired by Vietnam’s culinary traditions, are taking the humble banh mi and giving it a shiny makeover. In place of the usual mix of cold cuts and head cheeses are thoroughly novel ingredients, like juicy Polish kielbasa and spicy curried beef. In the process of redefining Vietnam’s beloved street food, banh mi has become a household name throughout all five boroughs. Julia Moskin covered this trend last April for the New York Times in her piece “Building on Layers of Tradition.”
While visiting New York, I made it a point to sample a nontraditional Vietnamese sandwich. California is bursting with delis serving banh mi, but I have yet to encounter a shop marching to a uniquely fusion tune. For the time being, New York City is the epicenter of banh mi version 2.0.
An excellent post on Serious Eats brought The Astronomer and me to Xie Xie, Chef Angelo Sosa’s prettily appointed Midtown shop. The offering that caught my eye was the Cha Ca La Vong ($8.75), which is named after a famous Hanoi restaurant that specializes in cha ca Thanh Long. A northern Vietnamese dish, cha ca Thanh Long is comprised of tumeric-marinated fish sauteed over high heat with green onions and fresh dill. I didn’t grow up eating cha ca Thanh Long, but became mildly obsessed with it while living in Vietnam.
Chef Sosa’s cha ca-inspired sandwich was seriously spectacular. Mingling with the generous fillet of turmeric-laced tilapia was Sriracha-infused mayonnaise, a sweet onion jam, and loads of fresh dill. When the sandwich arrived at our table, the smell of fresh herbs smacked us both in the face, just like it did while dining in Hanoi. The toasty baguette kept the fish in place and held onto every last sprig of dill. Of all the amazing foods I ate during my latest journey to New York City, it’s this sandwich that I cannot get out of my mind.
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Xie Xie *CLOSED*
645 Ninth Avenue
New York, NY 10036
Phone: 212-265-2975
I gotta take a foodie vacation in NYC … it’s the only way I can satisfy my constant cravings! I could eat that sandwich right now … and it’s only 9 in the morning.
oh, for this place to get your endorsement, that’s huge, miss banh mi expert.
That sandwich looks yummmmm-we’ll be in NY next month and I’m hoping I can make to Xie Xie 🙂
Is it Xie Xie as in “thank you” in Mandarin? How cute.
would you say the sandwich would be just as good without the dill? because i really can’t handle straight-up dill in anything.
Rivers – You got it—Xie Xie means “thank you.”
Mr. Killion – I think the sandwich would still be tasty, but you’d tired of it quickly because the onion jam is quite sweet. Learn to love the dill, will ya?
i will do no such thing… it’s on my no-no list with fennel and, in large doses, caraway.
Oh my gosh – look at that dill!! That’s how I like my fish – loaded with the green herbies. 🙂 What a delightful sandwich – you are killing me with all these NYC posts!!!
Sign me up for this sammie – and some tix to NYC.
I’ve never had fancy banh mi before, just the old school kind.
Scary and unknown and seemingly delicious.
Hmm yeah, I’m not familiar with cha ca Thanh Long either!
I remember reading your posts about cha ca… that looks like a finely constructed banh mi.
Oooh!
cha ca Thanh Long
Eat, Drink n be Merry and Oishii Eats took me to some special place in Westminster that specialized…still dream about it burnished edges 🙂
Is there any place here in L.A that does Fish bahn mi other than Bahn Mi Che Cali anchovy?
Apparently fusion banh mi is also happening in VN =)
http://www.lastappetite.com/banh-my-doner-kebab/
I love Cha Ca so this creation definitely caught my eye. May have to try recreating this at home, but of course I’m going to have to add some mam tom for some kicks and giggles!
What a great idea, combining two great Viet dishes!
Interesting, I don’t think there is a wrong way to make a Banh Mi, it only gets better with time as it only gets more creative. I am really interested however to see how New Yorkers do it.hmm
yum srirachi infused mayo? sounds like my kinda sammie.
Wow! Good to know. A friend of mine just started working there and loves it. I’ll have to ask him for the secret recipe for the fish sandwich. 😉
OMGOSH i love cha ca thang long, that sandwich sounds utterly amazing!