Bahn Mi Tacos w/ Jackfruit "Pork," Pickled Veggies, and Sriracha Mayo

Difficulty: 3/5 (5 being hardest)
Spice Level: 2/3 (3 being spiciest)

Prep & Cook Time: ; 40 minutes
Servings: 4

The Challenge: Bahn Mi Tacos

Bahn mi. You had it? Usually served up in a delicious Vietnamese deli between crusty bun. It is standard usually with pork, pate, pickled veggies, hot sauce, mayo, cilantro, jalapeno, and sesame seeds. Today, I wanted to take this delicious sandwich and convert it into yum as heck tacos. 

We start with crispy flour tacos. We used jackfruit as the pork. We cook up jackfruit with delicious spices/sauce that are traditional for how Vietnamese delis cook up the pork with sesame oil, miso to replace fish sauce, garlic, cinnamon, shallots, lemongrass, and liquid aminos for soy sauce. What do you get? Amazingly delicious melt in your mouth jackfruit. 

Additionally, we pickle up some veggies - daikon and carrots to make sure we have the perfect combination of cool, crisp veggies with warm jackfruit. Finally, we top with a sriracha mayo, fresh cilantro, fresh jalapenos, and black sesame seeds.

All in all, we create a gorgeous amazing bahn mi taco that will absolutely crush your taste buds and deliver all the wonderful flavors of this Viet classic but in the form of the tacos. 

Let's get into it!

Ingredients:

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Jackfruit Pork

• 20oz of canned young jackfruit in brine, drained + washed
• 1 stalk of lemongrass, chopped
• 1 tbl liquid aminos
• 1 tbl sesame oil
• 1 lime, juiced
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tbl miso
• 1 medium shallot, diced
• Spices: 1/2 tsp smoked paprika, several pinches of salt + pepper, 1/4 tsp 

Sriracha Mayo

• 1/3 cup vegan mayo
• 2 tbl sriracha
• 1 tbl rice vinegar
• 1/4 cup scallions, diced

Pickled Veggies

• 8-inch piece of daikon radish, cut into matchsticks
• 3 medium carrots, cut into matchsticks
• 1 medium poblano pepper, cut into matchsticks
• 1 cup rice vinegar (more if needed)
• 1/2 cup water
• pinch of sugar (optional)
• 1 tbl sesame oil

Toppings / Other

• 1/2 cucumber, diced into small half moons
• handful of cilantro, roughly chopped
• black sesame seeds, to top the taco
• medium jalapeno, diced

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Equipment You'll Need:

Cutting Board . Sharp Cutting Knife . Measuring Cups . Measuring Spoons . Large Frying Pan . Pickle Jar / Mason Jar . Whisk . Mixing Bowls 

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Before You Cook:

• Wash and cut all fresh ingredients (sans the toppings)

1. Place the matchsticks of veggies into a clean pickle jar or mason jar. Mix in vinegar, water, sesame oil, sugar, salt, and pepper. Set aside and let it marinate while the rest of the recipe comes together.

2. While the veggies are pickling, mix together the marinade for the jackfruit pork. Mix together lemongrass, liquid aminos, sesame oil, garlic, miso, ginger, lime juice, and spices.

3. To start the jackfruit, add shallots to a large frying pan with a bit of sesame oil. Cook for 4-5 minutes then add in jackfruit and cook for 6-8 minutes over medium heat. Add marinade and turn heat to low-medium. Simmer for 10-15 minutes until jackfruit is soft and breaks apart as you mix it.

4. While the jackfruit cooks down, mix together the ingredients for the sriracha mayo.

5.  Cut all the rest of the toppings up while you wait for the jackfruit and pickled veggies to finish.

6. To finish, crisp up tortillas and layer on jackfruit, mayo, pickled veggies, and the rest of the ingredients. Its taco time!1