Wei Chan, a Singaporean, is so passionate about Vietnamese “banh mi”, also known as Sai Gon Baguette, that he opens a deli in Raffles City Shopping Center to sell banh mi and other Vietnamese foods. His shop is the only one in Singapore where authentic Vietnamese banh mi is sold.
From Sai Gon Baguette
There is a crisp baguette stuffed with fresh vegetables like grated carrots and cucumbers, then the cut chilies, the fresh burst of flavor from the coriander leaves, the delicious porky ham together with the rich smooth pate and mayonnaise. It is simply nice banh mi or Sai Gon Baguette.
Wei Chan’s family has a 23-year tradition of making pastry with Pine Garden’s Cake Company, which is rather famous in Singapore. Chan ought to have succeeded his family tradition to be a pastry shop owner if he had not been charmed by the Sai Gon Baguette during the time he studied in Canada.
He said cheerfully, “At that time, I craved for Asian food very much. I looked everywhere for Singaporean food but I could not find out any. Then I had to make do with Sai Gon Baguette, sold by Vietnamese people. I ate banh mi continuously for so long that I could not realize I was addicted to it since then!”
A bite of banh mi or Saigon Baguette is a pleasurable assault on the senses to Chan. The crisp baguette stuffed with tangy and delicious porky ham and sweet pickles followed Chan to Singapore.
Now, Chan is relishing with rolls of baguette everyday, which are exactly the same as Viet Nam’s after more than two years of learning by trials and errors.
The 34-year-old entrepreneur smiled and boasted that his shop sells over 100 rolls everyday, which he called “Sai Gon Baguette”. His customers are mainly Singaporean and some Vietnamese students in Singapore.
In order to make Viet Nam’s genuine banh mi like what he is offering today, Chan experienced a difficult time with a hundred of rolls made and then thrown away.
He said the most difficult thing is how to make baguette crisp but still fairly soft, not so hard like French baguette or so soft like sandwich.
To Viet – Inspired Deli
Wei Chan introduces Sai Gon Baguette at his shop, Viet – Inspired Deli, in Singapore.
At the beginning, Chan opened Viet – Inspired Deli in March 2003 to temporarily sell easily-cooked Vietnamese foods such as bun thit nuong (grilled pork with rice noodles), bun ga nuong (grilled chicken with rice noodle), goi cuon (fresh spring roll), soda-lemon juice and Trung Nguyen coffee.
When the shop was in stable operation with regular clienteles, Chan started to study the important secrets of making banh mi.
His family’s 20-year experience in pastry could not help him make Vietnamese banh mi of his dreams.
Last June, Chan arrived in Viet Nam to eat and learn how to make banh mi. In Viet Nam, he was lucky to meet good chefs of Sai Gon Professional Chef Club. He said, “Thanks to their consultancy, I finally can make the first baking with satisfactory quality on May 5, 2006.”
Chan is a humorous person, but when talking about his passion for banh mi in particular and Vietnamese cuisine in general, he is very serious. “Banh mi is likely a normal food sold in streets to Vietnamese people. But to me, it is a special food, a very delicious hybrid of Vietnamese and French culinary cultures which is unique of Viet Nam.”
Chan attaches special importance to both the quality and the appearance of his Sai Gon Baguette. He imports hams and pork pate from Australia, uses fresh vegetables and the bags of his own design. He got a Vietnamese chef, Mai Thi Bao Chau (a former chef of Sofitel Plaza Hotel and Sai gon Hotel), to advise him on harmonious and good-looking combination of materials.
“I want to make banh mi better and help people know more about it. It is fair for this delicious food,” said Chan.
For Chan, Vietnamese cuisine still has lots of interesting and mysterious things to be discovered. Banh mi is just the first.
“Vietnamese dishes are very delicious. However, I realize that they have not done a proper marketing job. I am very satisfied with an idea of introducing Vietnamese cuisine through a deli system worldwide and expect to cooperate with Vietnamese people to carry out this idea," said he.
