Banh mi - London's sandwich du jour

Tired of the same old sub, sandwich or panini? Currently budging over the burrito for London’s hottest ethnic street-food is the banh mi, a Vietnamese snack that’s arrived here via New York.

Not for the faint hearted, the banh mi (pronounced "bun mee") consists of a baguette made with 50 per cent rice flour to ensure that it's light and crispy, lined with homemade mayonnaise and pork liver pâté, then filled with Vietnamese salad of carrots and daikon (white radish), thin slices of cucumber, coriander and chilli, and finally, a generous helping of slow-cooked pork.

The bread and pate element are a legacy from the French occupation of Vietnam in the 19th and 20th centuries. Yet somehow the combination of sweet, salt and sour flavours hits the palate’s jackpot.

Try banh mi at Mo-Me market stall at Spitalfields, Caphe House on Bermondsey Street; Loong Kee Café on Kingsland Road, Shoreditch; Viet Baguette in Fitzrovia; Banzi in Surrey Quays; Café Bay in Denmark Hill, and the Banhmi11 stall in Broadway Market.