Homemade Mayonnaise for Banh Mi

Continuing our series on how to make your own banh mi sandwiches, is how to make homemade mayonnaise. The mayonnaise spread in Vietnamese banh mi is simply made from egg yolk, oil, salt, and lemon. To fancy things up, you can add optional ingredients such as garlic, sriracha, turmeric/curry, or whatever spices you think might tastes good. You can make it using a whisk, hand held mixer or blender.

Mayonnaise for Banh Mi - Vietnamese Bo

Bo means butter, but for Vietnamese it describes the mayo spread that is used for banh mi because it's so luscious and creamy like real butter. For best results use the freshest farm egg yolk you can get your hands on. Unlike traditional mayo recipes, the Vietnamese skips the lemon so it keeps the color of the mixture more yellow.

Ingredients:

1 egg yolk
1/2 cup oil (neutral oil such as canola)
pinch of kosher salt
pinch of sugar

Directions:

In a large mixing bowl whisk egg yolk, salt with about 2 tbs of oil. Whisk until ingredients are well emusifield. At this point, slowly drizzle remaining oil and continue to whisk until mixture becomes creamy. Alternatively, you can place all the ingredients in a blender and slowly drizzle in the oil while blending until creamy. Make final adjustment with salt if necessary.

For a different twist and other uses besides banh mi, you can add seasonings such as garlic, mustard, Sriracha, chipotle, roasted red peppers, Creole seasoning, ginger, sesame oil…the flavors are endless.

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Stay tune for the last post on our how to make your own banh mi series, the very popular banh mi thit nuong.