Ingredients
Batter
- 200 grice flour
- 30 gcornflour
- 1 tspground turmeric
- ½ tspsalt
- 300 mlcoconut milk
- 300 mlcold water
- 3spring onions, finely sliced
Filling
- 300 graw prawns, peeled
- 200 gpork belly, thinly sliced
- 1onion, sliced
- 300 gbean sprouts
- 150 gmung beans, steamed soft (optional)
- oil, for frying
To serve
- a large plate of lettuce, perilla, mint, coriander and Vietnamese balm
- nước chấm: 3 tbsp fish sauce, 3 tbsp lime juice, 3 tbsp sugar, 6 tbsp water, 2 cloves garlic and 1 chilli, minced
Directions
- Whisk the rice flour, cornflour, turmeric and salt with the coconut milk and water to a thin batter — it should be as thin as single cream. Rest it 30 minutes, then stir in the spring onion.
- The batter separates as it stands. Stir it every time before you ladle, or the first crepes are pale and the last are gritty.
- Mix the nước chấm and set aside. Wash and dry the herbs and pile them on a platter.
- Heat a wide non-stick or well-seasoned pan over high heat with a tablespoon of oil until it is genuinely hot — bánh xèo means sizzling cake, and the noise the batter makes going in is the test.
- Add a few slices of pork and a few prawns, cook 1 minute, then scatter over some onion.
- Ladle in a thin layer of batter and immediately swirl the pan so it runs up the sides in a lacy sheet. Less batter than feels right: the crepe should be thin enough to crackle.
- Add a handful of bean sprouts to one half, cover, and cook 2 minutes to steam them through.
- Uncover and cook another 3–4 minutes, drizzling a little oil around the rim, until the edges lift and the base is deep gold and crisp. Fold in half and slide out.
- Eat by tearing off a piece, wrapping it in lettuce with a fistful of herbs, and dipping in nước chấm. It is a hands-on dish and is never eaten with a knife and fork.
Technique
- Thin batter, hot pan, plenty of oil at the rim. Those three make the crisp edge; a thick batter steams and goes floppy.
- Serve them one at a time as they come out of the pan. A stacked bánh xèo is a soft bánh xèo.
- The herbs are not a garnish — the wrap is half the dish, and the quantity should look excessive.
Substitutions
- Beer in place of some of the water, which many cooks use for extra crispness.
- Chicken or tofu instead of pork and prawn.
Variations
- The smaller central-Vietnamese version from Huế, made in individual pans.
- Bánh khọt, the small round cousin cooked in a dimpled pan.
History
Turmeric rice-flour crepe named for the sizzle it makes when poured; wrapped in mustard leaf and herbs and dipped in nuoc cham.
Frequently asked questions
What is Banh Xeo?
Banh Xeo is a street food from Vietnam: sizzling turmeric crepe with shrimp and beansprouts, wrapped in greens. Turmeric rice-flour crepe named for the sizzle it makes when poured; wrapped in mustard leaf and herbs and dipped in nuoc cham.
How long does Banh Xeo take to make?
Banh Xeo takes 25 min plus 30 min resting of preparation and 30 min of cooking. The recipe makes 6 crepes. It is rated medium to make.
What can I substitute in Banh Xeo?
Yes, within limits. Beer in place of some of the water, which many cooks use for extra crispness. Chicken or tofu instead of pork and prawn.
What is the most important thing to get right in Banh Xeo?
Eat by tearing off a piece, wrapping it in lettuce with a fistful of herbs, and dipping in nước chấm. It is a hands-on dish and is never eaten with a knife and fork.
