Like the many scenic wonders of the natural world, Vietnamese cuisine boasts its own set of delicious contributions to the world of food. One of the many dynamic, fresh and flavorful dishes that have catapulted the popularity of this cuisine to its current reign are the humble, Vi?t style baguette sandwiches called bánh mì.

It would be a discredit to Vietnamese cuisine to describe these as just any ordinary sandwiches. The uniqueness of bánh mì lies within the French-influenced light, crusty baguette, savory Vi?t fillings, live pat?, homemade mayo, touch of soy sauce, tangy pickled carrots and daikon, fresh cilantro, jalap?no heat and, cool, crispy cucumber slices. Combine all this, and you get a mouthful of savory, hot, sour, sweet and salty flavor-packed goodness in a 10-inch baguette (or demi boule) for about $2.75. It’s a match made in heaven and a cult following of epicurean devotees.

Are you salivating yet?

Bánh mì has become very mainstream, and its fan base has hungry, hunting foodie fans who are willing to travel far and wide in search for the best sandwich they can tear their teeth into. With Internet food sites such as Chowhound, Slashfood, Yelp and Battle of The Bánh Mì, both Vi?t and non-Vi?t bánh mì aficionados share, discuss and often debate over their favorite joints. Are there justifiable reasons to start a food fight over a Vi?t sandwich? There must certainly be, for these junkies all have their own opinion of what makes a good bánh mi: softer bread, crustier bread, spicy filling, sweet fillings and so forth.

Many of these are Americans who never grew up with Vi?t-style fillings in their sandwiches and have fallen prey to these unique flavors that bring such an exciting element to a sandwich.

""It’s the perfection of contrasting, but still complementing flavors and textures,"" says Todd Porter, a self-confessed bánh mì junkie who created www.battleofthebanhmi.com, a Web site dedicated to Vietnamese sandwiches, ""The taste is somewhat exotic but familiar at the same time. It’s the perfect sandwich.""

Once limited to a few small independent stores that sourced their bread from outside bakeries, bánh mì shops now have evolved and exploded into full-time bakeries, with on-site ovens pumping out fresh, hot baguettes to their salivating fans lining up for the freshest sandwiches in town. With the success of one shop, many of these entrepreneurial owners have responded to the call for more bánh mì and have opened up multiple and more contemporary locations where state-of-the-art ordering systems and uniforms are mandatory.

One such American success story has been the mushrooming across the country of Lee’s Sandwich, which prides itself on attracting ""a diverse crowd from traditional Vietnamese Americans to a younger crowd that is wowed by computer monitors ... full-color bilingual menu signs"", as stated on the company Web site.

Always evolving to make themselves stand above the rest, some shops have raised the bar to provide faster service, create bigger sandwiches, more fillings, better coffee and quality pastries to sell with every order.

But there still are many shops that choose to maintain a bit of unpolished, ethnic edge, where the ""first one to make it up to the counter gets served first"" type of service still exists. Believe it or not, there are foodies out there who prefer to forage forward in a mass of hungry diners, fighting their way to the counter .

Southern California is the mother-ship of bánh mì bakeries, boasting more than 22 shops just within the vicinity of Little Saigon alone. But the fierce competition, and strong, corporate powerhouse of Lee’s locations still doesn’t inhibit the entrepreneurial spirit of smaller, independent shop owners. 

In this growing frenzy of shops competing to offer ""buy two, get one free"" specials, and a rising, ravenous demand for bánh mì, shops still seem to be profitable and successful enough to keep their ovens baking and their carrots and daikon pickling.

Qu?nh Huong of Sandwich Planet in Westminster, Calif., doesn’t feel threatened by the competition, but rather confident that it’s the quality of the shop’s produce that keeps customers coming. ""All our quality fillings are made fresh daily,"" she said.

Gone are the days when filling options were limited to the four or five traditional standards of barbecue pork, meatballs and other grilled meats. To please the progressive palates of their customers, many shops and restaurants are expanding their menus and conjuring up creative bánh mì fillings to add variety, to satisfy and to even challenge the bánh mì world.

Xanh Bistro in Fountain Valley, Calif., offers contemporary bánh mì fares such as shredded beef, crispy fish and curry chicken, all unique to most bánh mì menus.

""My focus was to create something that hasn’t been eaten over and over again,"" said Haley Nguy?n, executive chef and also a culinary instructor. ""I chose to offer these because they are different, light and healthy but still full of traditional Vietnamese flavors. I don’t compromise on flavors, any of the condiments or my techniques. That’s why I choose to slow-cook my shredded beef rather than use short cuts.""

Bánh mì popularity is still on a strong, upward swing. As Vietnamese cuisine continues to unfold with its contrasting textures and flavors, so will a simple crusty baguette smothered in delicious fillings and condiments. Some will still call it a Vietnamese sandwich or Vietnamese Hoagie, but one collective agreement on the beautiful bánh mì is that it is simply delicious.

 Bánh mì in Orange County’s Little Saigon area