How To Keep Your Po'boy From Completely Falling Apart

While Northerners might be more familiar with sandwiches like BLTs or a Reuben, if you head down to New Orleans, you'll stumble across something called a po'boy. This hearty sandwich consists of French bread packed with tomatoes, lettuce, and either seafood or meat (or you can even make a vegetarian tofu po'boy). Then, it's slathered with mayo, ketchup, or other sauces to really bring on the flavor.

If you want to make the ultimate po'boy, however, you may find that all those fillings tend to fall out when you go to bite into it. To help you avoid making a mess, Daily Meal spoke with Chef Michelle Wallace, founder of b'tween sandwich co, to get some exclusive insights into how to prevent this from happening. She explained, "In the case of a shrimp po'boy, I like to start at the bottom and work my way up." Of course, while she's referring to a classic shrimp po'boy, this same rule can apply no matter what protein you fill your sandwich with.

The first step when putting together your po'boy, Chef Michelle Wallace explains, is to slather your bread in sauce. If you want to really bring out the French fusion flavor, you can use a remoulade sauce, which has a mayonnaise base but comes packed with a much tangier flavor thanks to the capers, pickles, and lemon juice in it. It can work particularly well on seafood po'boys, helping to balance out the sweeter flesh of the shrimp, oysters, or other meat.

To add the remoulade (or other sauce) to your sandwich, Wallace says, "On the bottom [piece of] untoasted bread, spread the sauce then add the fried shrimp. The sauce helps the shrimp make its footprint in the bread. It's more likely to stay in place." It serves as a sort of glue, holding your protein in place. You can also lightly press your shrimp into the sauce and bread, helping prevent it from shifting when you squeeze the sandwich together.

Another trick is to slather sauce on both sides of your bread. This can help hold ingredients in from the other side when you put your sandwich together, too.

With your protein and sauce on the bread, Wallace explains that it's time to add the rest of your filling ingredients. "On top of the shrimp goes the lettuce, then the tomato, then the (optional) pickles and onions and topped with the sauced top bread. It's perfection!" By adding your veggies second, you can help press the protein further into the bread when you press the sandwich together. This helps avoid everything falling out when you bite in, which can happen if you finish by adding the protein at the end.

At the same time, this method means that you don't have to worry about how many veggies you add. While lettuce and tomato are staples, you can also add Wallace's suggested pickles and onions. Or you can upgrade your shrimp po' boy with additional ingredients. For instance, a sweet pineapple slaw can not only add unique tasting notes to your sandwich but can also serve as an extra glue to help hold the other veggies inside. Or, perhaps you'll finish it up by piling in gooey, melted cheese to lock the ingredients in place. Either way, by following Chef Wallace's suggested order, you can easily keep your sandwich from falling apart.