Bánh Anh Em

Vietnamese Food with John Nguyen & Chef Nhu Ton, owners of Bánh Anh Em

 

"Our food starts with banh, that is like the base of a lot of our dishes. So we decided, okay, let's create a menu and focus on different styles of banh that we miss and we love and we can't find, because there's no restaurant doing that."

 

 

We sat down at their Bánh Anh Em location in the East Village where we shared a trio of dishes:

 

Bánh xèo

This dish combines everything I love about Vietnamese food: flavors, texture, and freshness. Nhu grew up selling these thin, crispy pancakes on the street with her mom. A batter a turmeric and rice flour forms the crispy base, which is filled with shrimo and pork belly. The idea is to rip off a chunk, wrap it in lettuce with fresh herbs and pickled vegetables, then dip it in fish sauce.

 

 

"I think with Vietnamese food, everything looks so simple, but it take a lot of time and effort. Like the bánh xèo, for example, this particular dish, right? The technique that my mom does is super thin. It takes years to practice. And I think that's the beauty of Vietnamese food. We work with whatever we have but we turn it into, like, something really delicious and fun to eat."

 

Bún chả

This is the perfect dish. Char-grilled pork patties are dropped into a savory broth of fish sauce, sugar, water, and aromatics to create the perfect blend of smokey, salty sweetness. The dish is served with bun — fermented rice noodles — that you dip into the broth and eat with fresh herbs and pickeld vegetables.

 

 

"I think bun cha in particular, it's important that the meat is grilled over charcoal. And then, when it hits the broth, you know, it makes its own distinct flavor. It's a very important dynamic to this dish.This is one of those dishes that highlights simple ingredients, but the technique in which it's prepared makes a big difference."

 

Bánh mì

The O.G. Bánh mì is Nhu's masterpiece. The fresh-bakad bread comes packed with pâté, housemade ham, sausage, cheese, fresh herbs, pickled vegetables, and pork floss.

 

 

"What makes our bánh mì special is that we do everything by hand — divide the dough, shaping the bánh mì. So every single bánh mì, the shape is a little bit different and there's a beauty of making something with hand."

"It's an art form. It's a craftsmanship."