bánh mì stuffing
the marriage of a foodie love affair
Kenji Morimoto is a London-based Japanese American food writer and content creator who specializes in fermentation. He draws from his cultural heritage to teach, write, and share culinary knowledge through various platforms, including his popular Instagram @kenjcooks and his upcoming book "Ferment."
Kenji Morimoto•
December 8, 2025
This has been on my mind for quite a while - I've always loved stuffing and I'm a true believer that we shouldn't solely reserve this delicious dish for American thanksgiving. And I've always loved banh mi: arguably one of the best sandwiches out there.
Living in Vietnam atm, banh mi bread is plentiful so the time was right to make it for some of this year's festive gatherings. I've kept the recipe simple - very much based on my normal sausage sage stuffing - however swapping out many ingredients, as expected.
I reckon most of these ingredients are fairly accessible to you however the pickled vegetables which garnish the top of the banh mi stuffing really make this dish pop. I haven't included a recipe here for the daikon/carrot pickles or the pickled chillies but they're super simple using a sweet vinegar brine.
Ingredients (17)
Ingredients (17)
Instructions
In a rather large pan (large enough to fit all of the ingredients!), add a tablespoon of veg oil and cook the ground pork and onion on medium heat till the meat is cooked through and the onion is translucent (roughly 7-10 minutes). Add the wood ear mushrooms and the lemongrass, garlic and ginger and cook for an additional 3-5 minutes.
Add the liquids (except the egg) and a pinch of MSG and bring it to a gentle simmer. Toss in the scallions and cilantro and take the pan off the heat. Allow this to cool for 5 minutes before mixing in the whisked egg. Mix this in quickly and ensure that the liquid is cool enough so the egg doesn't immediately cook.
In batches, mix in the torn bread ensuring that the bread fully rehydrates by absorbing the liquid.
Oil an oven safe dish and pack it tightly with the banh mi stuffing mixture. Bake it in a 200C oven for 20-25 minutes until the top is golden brown. Note that the exact time will vary based on the oven dish you use (ie, how deep the dish is!).
This can be made ahead and kept in the fridge until it's ready to be baked.
Garnish with more chopped scallion, cilantro, and the pickled vegetables! And a generous grind of black pepper.
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