Practically Vegan Bánh Mì Tacos

While we were waiting for the third cousin to arrive, this cousin and that cousin played a really wonderful game of remembering: recounting aloud the best meals we'd ever eaten. As we chopped green beans and sipped our mango cocktails, we strained our memories and our tastebuds, bringing alive the ghosts of flavors past.

Dad's homemade pizza—any breakfast at our Aunt Sheila's house (farm fresh eggs, homemade bread)—that particular Christmas with the standing rib roast. A night out in Istanbul with seven courses of seafood, a molten lava cake for dessert, a view of the Bosphorus. Discount pizza dipped in Buffalo sauce. Mom's refried bean burrito dinners with steamed broccoli and mint-chocolate-chip milkshakes. The chicken apricot tajine I made after my trip to Morocco (so good, even a vegan ate it.)

This evening spent reminiscing will too be remembered fondly, and not just for the memory of memories. For the memory of yet another delicious meal! Bánh mì TACOS!

I have never had a "real" bánh mì sandwich, since I didn't know about them until after going gluten-free. Bánh mì is a type of Vietnamese bread, but it is also the name given to a sandwich with traditionally Vietnamese fillings on a sliced baguette: a multicultural combination, a positive result of leftover imperialism, interesting, AND delicious.

I CAN'T EAT BREAD (*duh) so I thought: let's add another culture to the concept—Mexican—and make a taco. Why not?

Cousin B made a slaw, and Cousin G suggested that the taco would require a spicy mayonnaise. I made my favorite fried tofu, a mango cocktail, and coconut rice pudding for dessert. The overall result was superb. I will share my recipes with you forthwith:

for the slaw:

1 package of shredded broccoli slaw and/or shredded carrot and/or half a shredded red cabbage

about a cup or so of chopped raw green beans

a container of fresh cilantro, chopped

1/2 cup roasted peanuts

chop & mix with

slaw dressing:

a few cloves diced garlic

half a diced white or red onion

1/4 cup olive oil

fresh-squeezed lime juice (3 limes)

drizzle of rice wine vinegar

dash of mirin

droplet of sesame oil

drizzle gluten-free tamari or soy sauce

(and maybe a few drizzles of fish sauce)

a few tablespoons of sugar, to taste

for the tofu:

(adapted from gluten-free girl)

1 container extra-firm tofu, DRAINED AND DRIED* and sliced into rectangular chunks

marinated (for about 10-15 minutes) in about a tablespoon each of:

gluten-free soy sauce/tamari

sesame oil

mirin

rice wine vinegar

a little (depending on your spice palate) chili-garlic sauce

fried in vegetable oil

once browned, placed on a paper towel to soak up the extra grease

*I am not kidding. You have to soak the shit out of these puppies. It is wasteful, but I use paper towels, over and over until they no longer come away from the tofu damp. If you have clean dish towels, they will work as well. See the link to Gluten-Free Girl & The Chef for her instructions on how to weigh down the tofu so it drips water (I have never been successful at this.)

Drying the tofu

place on warmed corn tortillas, drizzled with:

spicy mayo:

1/2 cup mayonnaise (or veganaise, hence, the "practically" vegan)

several squirts sriracha sauce

several hearty shakes of garlic powder

lime juice from 1 lime

drizzle of sesame oil

a little salt

a little soy sauce

a little rice wine vinegar

for the cocktail:

(adapted from here)

chopped mango chunks

shot of vodka

ice cubes

mango nectar

fizzle of prosecco

(*drink with caution)

my favorite coconut rice pudding recipe is available here.