Huntington Park, a city in South Los Angeles that isn’t far from downtown, has become a hotbed for Latin culture and food. It’s also one of the last reasonably priced pockets in L.A. County, with access to nearby factory workers, which is why former accountant Hoang Pham opened Los Angeles Banh Mi Company six months ago in a Huntington Park strip mall.

Since locals may not be familiar with banh mi, Pham features a fun cartoon explaining banh mi components on the wall. Beyond that, there’s not much to the space: twin wood counters with a total of six orange stools and butcher paper menu.

The backbone of any good banh mi sandwich is bread, and Pham keeps that choice internal. His wife’s family owns Pacific French Bakery and bakes custom baguettes that are light and designed not to scrape the roof of your mouth. Filling comes down to personal preference. They’re got beef and chicken marinated in lemongrass, slow-roasted puled pork, classic Vietnamese cold cuts, and spicy fried chicken on Fridays. I suggest starting with Vietnamese pork sausage ($4.50).

Aromatic, house-made pork sausage are crafted with traditional Vietnamese ingredients like fish sauce, garlic, toasted rice powder, shallots, and scallions. Juicy sausage slices join rich mayonnaise, punchy pickled daikon and carrots, cucumbers, spicy jalapeños, cilantro, and crushed peanuts on the aforementioned baguette.

All banh mi are served in a basket with a small pile of freshly fried shrimp chips, which is a nice bonus.

Dose of Vitamin P spotlights my favorite pork dish from the previous week.