Pork Banh Mi tacos take all the deliciousness of the classic Vietnamese sandwich recipe and make it perfect for taco Tuesday and beyond. Make the banh mi recipe in the slow cooker or oven for a recipe that is versatile and full of flavor.
Tacos aren’t what come to mind first when you think of Vietnamese recipes. But, these vietnamese banh mi tacos will totally change you mind about that.
So, first, let’s start with what exactly is a banh mi? A traditional banh mi is a Vietnamese sandwich served on a baguette and filled with pork, pickled vegetables, pate and jalapenos. Some places also include mayonnaise on the sandwich.
These banh mi tacos take most of those flavors and pile them into soft tortillas. I skip the pate since it isn’t something I keep around the house often but you are free to add that in if you want to go even closer to the original flavors.
One of the key pieces of the banh mi is the pickled vegetables which is typically a mix of carrots, cucumber and daikon radish. You can substitute regular radish if you can’t find the daikon.
You can make the pickled vegetables two ways:
- Heating up the pickling liquid and then adding it to the vegetables. Then, it all goes into the fridge.
- Combining the pickling liquid with the vegetables and putting it in the fridge to “pickle.”
Since this pickling mixture includes sugar, I find the heating method works better for ensuring the sugar disolves.
I tried these banh mi tacos with the pork sliced, shredded, and cubed. I found that the shredded pork worked best and was the most flavorful because you can put it back into the sauce after you shred it to soak up even more flavor.
I cooked my pork in the oven but you could easily do it in the slow cooker if you wanted to let it cook during the day while you were out. Either way, you will get super tender and flavorful pork that is perfect for combining with all the other flavors of a banh mi.
These tacos have so many complex flavors and taste amazing. Go ahead and fill your plate with two because there is no way you can settle for just one.
If you love these pork banh mi tacos, check out these other great Vietnamese recipes:
And if you can’t get enough tacos, be sure to try these other amazing taco recipes:
- Halloumi Tacos with Red Cabbage Slaw
- Turkey and Black Bean Tacos
- Chicken Bacon Mango Tacos
- Pork Carnitas Tacos
- Korean Beef Tacos
Essential Items for this Recipe:
If you make these pork banh mi tacos or any other recipe from the blog, I’d love to hear about your experience. Let me know in the comments or snap a photo and tag it #MySuburbanKitchen on Instagram or Twitter.
Pork banh mi tacos take all the flavors of a classic Vietnamese sandwich and turn it into the best taco ever.
- 2 lb pork shoulder
- 1 1/2 Tbsp five spice powder
- 1 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
- 2 Tbsp brown sugar
- 2 Tbsp salt
- 1/2 Tbsp black pepper
- 2 Tbsp avocado oil
- 1 Tbsp sesame oil
- 10 cloves garlic, minced
- 3 Tbsp minced ginger
- 1/2 cup soy sauce
- 1/4 cup rice vinegar
- 3/4 cup water
- 1 onion, thinly sliced
- 2 cups shredded daikon radish
- 1 cup shredded carrots
- 1 small cucumber, thinly sliced into half moons
- 1 cup rice vinegar
- 1 cup white vinegar
- 1 1/2 Tbsp sugar
- 1 1/2 Tbsp salt
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise
- 1 Tbsp Sriracha
- 12 small tortillas
- 2 jalapenos, sliced
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Preheat oven to 275 degrees. In a small bowl, mix together five spice, salt, pepper, cayenne, and brown sugar. Rub all over pork.
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Heat avocado oil over medium-high heat in dutch oven. Sear pork on all sides. Set aside.
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Add sesame oil to dutch oven. Add garlic and ginger and cook for 1 minute or until fragrant. Add soy sauce, rice vinegar, and water. Cook for 2-3 minutes.
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Add a few onion slices to bottom of dutch oven. Return pork to pan and top with remaining onion slices. Transfer to oven and cook for about 3 hours or until tender. Shred with fork once done.
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In a small saucepan, combine rice vinegar, white vinegar, sugar and salt. Bring to boil and then remove from heat. Add carrots, cucumber and daikon radish to mason jar or bowl and top with vinegar mixture. Transfer to refrigerator until ready to use.
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In a small bowl, combine mayonnaise and sriracha. Stir to combine.
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Spread each tortillas with sriracha mayonnaise. Top with shredded pork, pickled vegetables and sliced jalapenos.
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