Vietnamese Pork Sandwich (Banh Mi Thit) - cooking recipe

Ingredients

1 teaspoon five-spice powder
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1/4 cup shallot, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
12 ounces ground lean pork
3 tablespoons soy sauce
1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
2 tablespoons red chili paste or 2 tablespoons asian red chili sauce
12 ounces pork tenderloin, cooked and thinly sliced
2 cups English cucumbers, thinly sliced
3 cups mesclun
1/2 cup fresh Thai basil
1/2 cup fried shallots (optional)
3 French baguettes, use light baguette with soft interior and thin crisp crust (8 oz ea.)

Preparation

In an 8- 10 inch saute pan over medium/high heat, stir five spice until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
Stir in oil, shallots and garlic.
Add ground pork and stir often until meat is crumbly and no longer pink.
Add soy sauce, sugar and salt and pepper to taste; set aside.
Cut baguettes in half crosswise then split almost all the way through, leaving halves attached on one side.
Spread 1 tsp of chile paste on one cut side of each baguette section.
Spoon 1/6 of the warm ground pork mixture (including juices) over the chile paste.
Tuck 1/6 of the pork tenderloin slices evenly into each sandwich.
Place sandwiches on a sheet pan and bake at 375\u00b0F for about 5 minutes or until filling is warm and crust is crisp.
Remove from oven and fill each with 1/6 of the cucumbers, mesclun, basil and fried shallots.