My favorite sandwich in the world is the Vietnamese bahn mi. Each time I make these sandwiches, I tweak the ingredients just a little, sometimes adding shredded carrot or onion, other times just cucumber and lettuce — always lots of cilantro. I usually make them either with seitan or soy-tan dream cutlets (from 1000 Vegan Recipes), although I’ve also added thin slices of marinated extra-firm tofu on occasion.

The version I made for lunch yesterday was the best I’ve ever had. Here’s how I made them: I sautéed slices of seitan with some hoisin sauce and a little soy sauce which gave the seitan a wonderful flavor. I combined Vegenaise and sriracha sauce and spread it onto split rolls. Then I layered the rolls with lettuce, sliced cucumber, the hoisin-flavored seitan, loads of cilantro, and a generous sprinkling of chopped jalapeño. The combination of flavors and textures was out-of-this-world fabulous. I think it was the addition of hoisin to the seitan that put the flavor over the top. And of course, the sriracha mayo only made it even better. If you’re a fan of bahn mi, give this a try and let me know what you think.