Vietnamese Banh Mi Sandwich

Banh mi sandwiches are some of the best Vietnamese street food you can eat and these bad boys are no exception. The baked tofu is perfectly textured and the marinade is outstanding. When you throw that on a bun and add some homemade slaw, you got yourself some tasty sandwiches.

VIETNAMESE BANH MI SANDWICH [VEGAN, GLUTEN-FREE]

INGREDIENTS

FOR THE TOFU:

• 1 14-ounce package tofu, extra firm
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 teaspoon peeled and chopped ginger
• 2 tablespoons tamari
• 1 tablespoon coconut aminos
• 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
• 1 tablespoon water

FOR THE SLAW:

• 2 cups sliced red cabbage
• 1 cup grated carrot
• 1/2 cup thinly sliced red onion
• 1 heaping tablespoon chopped fresh basil
• 1 heaping tablespoon chopped cilantro
• 2 tablespoons coconut aminos
• 1 teaspoon rice vinegar
• Salt and pepper, to taste

PREPARATION

TO MAKE THE TOFU:

1. Take the block of tofu out of the package and rinse it with water.
2. Press the tofu.  You want to extract as much liquid out of the tofu as possible. If you don’t have a tofu press, you can easily do this by using a pie pan and some plates. Place the block of tofu into a pie pan and carefully stack some plates on top. Make sure the plates are heavy enough to press liquid out of the tofu as it sits. Let it sit like this for about 15 minutes. When most of the liquid has been extracted, discard the liquid and place the tofu on a cutting board.
3. Cut the tofu into thin slabs. You can make them any size in length you want, just make sure they are at least 1/2 inch or so thick. You should be able to get about nine pieces out of one package of tofu.
4. Make the marinade by placing all the marinade ingredients into a small bowl and whisking with a fork to combine them.
5. Arrange the pieces of tofu in the same pie pan that you used to extract the water, and pour the marinade over the tofu (make sure all of the water is out of the pie pan first).
6. Allow the tofu to marinate for at least 10 minutes, turning it over at least once so that each side soaks up some marinade.
7. While the tofu is marinating, preheat the oven to 350° and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
8. When the tofu is done marinating, place each piece in a single layer on the parchment covered baking sheet and pour the remaining marinade on top.
9. Bake them for 15 minutes, flip over each slab of tofu, and bake them for an additional 15 minutes. You will have more baked tofu than you will need for this recipe.

FOR THE SLAW:

1. Use the slicing blade on your food processor to slice the cabbage, carrot, and onion.
2. Place the sliced veggies into a large mixing bowl and add the basil, cilantro, Coconut Aminos and rice vinegar. Stir until all of the ingredients are combined and add salt and pepper to taste

ASSEMBLE:

1. Toast a sprouted hotdog bun and slather both sides with vegan mayo.
2. Add two or three pieces of tofu to the gluten-free hot dog bun and top the whole thing with a generous amount of slaw.

http://www.onegreenplanet.org/vegan-recipe/vietnamese-banh-mi-sandwich/