It is often split lengthwise and filled with meat and savory ingredients like a submarine sandwich and served as a meal, called bánh mì thịt.

[9][10] Following the Vietnam War, overseas Vietnamese popularized the bánh mì sandwich in countries such as Australia, Canada and the United States.

A folk etymology claims that the word bánh mì is a corruption of the French pain de mie, meaning soft, white bread.

[11] However, bánh (or its Nôm form, 餅) has referred to rice cakes and other pastries since as early as the 13th century, long before French contact.

[12] The word bánh mì, meaning "bread", is attested in Vietnamese as early as the 1830s, in Jean-Louis Taberd's dictionary Dictionarium Latino-Annamiticum.

[16][17] Nguyễn Đình Chiểu mentions the baguette in his 1861 poem "Văn tế nghĩa sĩ Cần Giuộc".

At the same time, disruptions of wheat imports led bakers to begin mixing in inexpensive rice flour (which also made the bread fluffier).

[15] Until the 1950s, sandwiches hewed closely to French tastes, typically a jambon-beurre moistened with a mayonnaise or liver pâté spread.

[16] Among the migrants were Lê Minh Ngọc and Nguyễn Thị Tịnh, who opened a small bakery named Hòa Mã in District 3.

[23] Some shops stuffed sandwiches with inexpensive Cheddar cheese, which came from French food aid that migrants from the North had rejected.

In Northern California, Lê Văn Bá and his sons are credited with popularizing bánh mì among Vietnamese and non-Vietnamese Americans alike through their food truck services provider and their fast-food chain, Lee's Sandwiches, beginning in the 1980s.

[18] Besides being made into a sandwich, it is eaten alongside meat dishes, such as bò kho (a beef stew), curry, and phá lấu.

Accompanying vegetables typically include fresh cucumber slices or wedges, leaves of the coriander plant and pickled carrot and daikon in shredded form (đồ chua).

In regions of the United States with significant populations of Vietnamese Americans, numerous bakeries and fast food restaurants specialize in bánh mì.

[citation needed] Phở Hòa, a Vietnamese-American restaurant chain primarily specializing in pho, also offers bánh mì as part of its menu.