The Daily Telegraph - Saturday - The Telegraph Magazine
Bacon and egg bánh mì-style croissant
Prep time: 15 minutes, plus cooling and pickling time Cook time: 25 minutes
Serves 2
This bánh mì-inspired recipe has another dose of French flavour by way of using a croissant rather than a classic baguette. This is a weekend breakfast favourite in our house; it’s super-easy to throw together. I normally have ingredients like the carrot and daikon pickle pre-prepared and ready in my fridge so I can add a Vietnamese touch to a dish whenever necessary. This recipe makes enough to fill a 1 litre jar; leftovers can be stored in an airtight jar for up to two weeks in the fridge.
INGREDIENTS
For the carrot and daikon pickle
– 500ml rice vinegar – 500g caster sugar – 250g carrots, cut into
thin matchsticks – 250g daikon/mooli (or you can use radishes), cut into thin matchsticks
For the croissant
– 2 tsp vegetable oil
– 4 slices of streaky
bacon
–2eggs
– 2 croissants
– 2 tsp coarse pork or
chicken pâté
– 2 tsp mayonnaise – 40g carrot and daikon
pickle
– 6 coriander stems
– 10 mint leaves
– 1 spring onion,
thinly sliced
– 1 red chilli,
thinly sliced
– 2 tsp light soy sauce – 2 tsp crispy fried shallots (shop-bought or homemade)
METHOD
To make the carrot and daikon pickle, heat up the rice vinegar and sugar in a saucepan to about 80-85C, stirring until all the sugar has dissolved. Take off the heat and leave to cool completely.
Put the carrots and daikon into a clean, sterilised jar (run it through the dishwasher, with no detergent) and pour over the cooled vinegar. It can be eaten after 3 hours but is better if left overnight.
Add 1 tsp of the oil to a small frying pan and bring to a high heat. Fry the bacon until crisp, then remove and keep warm. Add the remaining oil, then fry the eggs, sunny-side up. Remove and keep them warm too.
Toast the croissants, cut in half and open out on your plate. Spread pâté on one half and mayonnaise on the other. Top with the bacon, carrot and daikon pickle and fried eggs.
Stuff in the coriander stems, mint leaves, spring onion and chilli, then drizzle over the soy sauce. Sprinkle over the crispy fried shallots and a pinch of ground black pepper, and your delicious breakfast is ready.