Banh mi thit ingredients – a complete list…

Readers have been asking about the ingredients that go into a Vietnamese banh  mi thit, or pork roll. Thanks to the folks at Vinata’s, noodlies, Sydney food blog and TN Films can reveal all the mouthwatering components that make pork rolls Sydney’s tastiest and best value food.

There’s a new pork roll price war in Cabramatta, combo deals, multiple packs, free mini pork rolls – it’s fierce! Prices range from $2.80 to $4.50 for the standard pork roll, arguably Vietnam’s best known food. While the taste is sky high and prices rock bottom, most can’t name all the ingredients. Well at last, here’s a definitive list from Vinata’s, one of the best pork roll places in Sydney. Enjoy dear noodlies readers!

How many ingredients are there in a pork roll?

Most struggle to get more than 6, but in fact there are 13 different, delicious ingredients in a crusty Vietnamese pork roll. Mrs Yen from Vinata’s in Cabramatta talks us through the ingredients and what makes their banh mi arguable the best in town in the video produced by Thien Nguyen and his team at TN Films. We were salivating through the whole filming. Watch the video and you’ll see why.

  1. Vietnamese hot bread: it has to be crusty on the outside and fluffy inside
  2. Pate: Vinata’s make their own chicken liver pate
  3. Mayonnaise: again, house made, it’s thicker and creamier
  4. Boiled pork: glazed red, resembling bbq pork, cut into long strips
  5. Cha lua: Vietnamese devon cut into wide, flat strips, also used in banh cuon
  6. Cha gan: red pork devon with pork skin cut into wide flat strips
  7. Cucumber: Vinata’s hand slice them in long thick strips
  8. Chilli: sliced adding colour and fire
  9. Coriander: fresh and zesty
  10. Shallot: a onion zing
  11. White radish: thick and lightly pickled
  12. Carrot: thin strips lightly pickled
  13. Sauce: soy based, house made sauce that’s thick, sweet and salty

There you have it. A definitive list of 13 pork roll ingredients (we’re not even counting salt and pepper). Which makes the current price war amazingly fierce. Assume a price of $4.50 per roll, that’s around 35c per ingredient. It doesn’t take into account staffing, rent, electricity or the time and cost of baking hot bread, making pate, boiling pork, pickling carrot and white radish, and making the sauce.

Respect to the pork roll shops in Sydney – they toil, while the consumer wins. Compare that to a chicken and avocado sandwich on white bread with salt and pepper – how much would you pay for one of those sandwiches?

All the more reason to grab a banh mi thi to support these hot bread shops, I’d say.

Vinata’s Hot Bread

Shop 13-14, Cabramatta Plaza, 1 Hughes Street, Cabramatta
(02) 9724 3378