Banh Mi is the Vietnamese word for bread. In Vietnamese cuisine, it also refers to a type of baguette which is split lengthwise and filled with a variety of different ingredients. It is eaten as a staple food and served as meal to people on a daily basis. This Vietnamese street-food sandwich represents a mixture of cultures and ingredients alike. Over the years, the food has received its own versions and is relished across countries. Celebrating Banh Mi, on this day in 2011, bánh mì was admitted into the Oxford English Dictionary.

A traditional Banh Mi consists of crispy and airy bread packed with a meat of your choices such as pork pâté, giò lụa, Vietnamese cold cuts, or meatballs. It can be sweet and also includes crunchy veggies and herbs like pickled radishes, carrots, and cilantro. It is then layered with mayonnaise or margarine, and savoury soy sauce other than chilli sauce or peppers toppings. Replacing European flavours with Vietnamese ingredients, gave way to this tangy, sweet, spicy and salty takeaway food. The ingredients are added or reduced depending on one's preferences.

Nowadays, different versions of the dish are available in the market. Restaurants around the world including that in New York, Seoul and Saigon also make varieties of Banh Mi. Koreans prepare the meal with a different twist to it. They stuff it with the signature bulgogi (barbeque beef) and kimchi. In the US, miniature versions called bang mi sliders are also made. Google Doodle also portrays how different ways in which you can make the popular dish.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 23, 2020 05:40 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).