Bánh Xèo

About This Recipe

Bánh xèo means 'sizzling cake' — the name comes from the sound the rice-and-coconut batter makes the second it hits a screaming-hot pan. The crepe is brilliant yellow from turmeric, lacy and crisp at the edges, soft in the middle, folded in half over a generous stuffing of poached shrimp, sliced pork belly, scallion, and a tangle of fresh beansprouts. The dish is eaten in the traditional Vietnamese herb-wrap style: tear off a piece of crepe, lay it on a leaf of crisp lettuce, top with mint, perilla, basil, and cilantro, roll up, and dip into nuoc cham (lime-chili-fish-sauce). It is fresh, hot, crackling, herbaceous, and balanced — Mekong Delta cooking at its most vivid.

Ingredients

Serves 4

• 200 grice flour
• 2 tbspcornflour
• 1 tspground turmeric
• 1/2 tspfine salt
• 400 mlcold water
• 200 mlcoconut milk
• 3scallions, finely sliced
• 200 gthinly sliced pork belly
• 300 graw peeled shrimp
• 200 gfresh beansprouts
• 1 smallyellow onion, very thinly sliced
• 5 tbspneutral oil
• 1 headbutter lettuce or red leaf lettuce
• 1 large bunchfresh mint, Thai basil, perilla, cilantro
• 4 tbspfish sauce
• 4 tbspfresh lime juice
• 3 tbspsugar
• 6 tbspwater
• 2 clovesgarlic, minced
• 1Thai chili, minced

Instructions

1. 1

   Mix batter

   In a wide bowl, whisk rice flour, cornflour, turmeric, and salt. Slowly whisk in water and coconut milk until smooth. Stir in sliced scallions. Rest 30 minutes — this is essential for crisp crepes.

2. 2

   Make nuoc cham

   Whisk fish sauce, lime juice, sugar, water, garlic, and chili until the sugar fully dissolves. Taste; adjust for balance — it should be sweet, salty, sour, and gently hot.

3. 3

   Prep herb platter

   Wash lettuce and herbs and dry them thoroughly. Arrange on a large platter for the table.

4. 4

   Prep fillings

   Slice pork belly into thin strips. Salt and pepper the shrimp lightly.

5. 5

   Sear filling for each crepe

   Heat 1 tbsp oil in a wide nonstick skillet over high heat. Add a small handful of sliced onion, a few pork belly strips, and a few shrimp. Sear 90 seconds until pork is browned and shrimp is pink.

6. 6

   Pour the batter

   Stir the batter (it separates as it rests). Pour about 100 ml of batter into the hot pan in a quick circular motion, tilting to coat. It will hiss loudly — that is the bánh xèo.

7. 7

   Add beansprouts and cover

   Immediately scatter a generous handful of beansprouts over half of the crepe. Cover the pan with a lid for 30 seconds — this steams the beansprouts.

8. 8

   Crisp and fold

   Uncover. Drizzle 1 tsp more oil around the edges of the crepe. Cook 1 minute more until the edges are deeply crisp and the bottom is lacy gold. Use a spatula to fold the empty half over the filled half.

9. 9

   Slide and serve

   Slide onto a warm plate. Continue with remaining batter and filling. Bring crepes, herb platter, lettuce, and nuoc cham to the table.

10. 10

    Eat by wrapping

    Tear off a piece of crepe with chopsticks. Lay on a lettuce leaf, top with herbs. Roll up. Dip in nuoc cham. Eat with hands. Repeat until everything is gone.

Variations

• •

  Vegetarian bánh xèo: use sliced tofu and oyster mushrooms instead of pork and shrimp.

• •

  Bánh khọt: tiny coin-sized cousins cooked in molded pans, popular in Vung Tau.

• •

  Northern Vietnamese style: smaller, thicker, less coconut.

Storage

Eat fresh — the crisp doesn't survive. Batter and fillings keep separately 1 day refrigerated. Cook each crepe to order.

Frequently Asked Questions