Bánh Xèo, pronounced “ban-say-oh” is definitely one of my favourite Vietnamese dishes! It is a crispy savoury crepe made of turmeric, flour, coconut cream, rice flour, salt, and water. It is then stuffed with ingredients such as: shrimp, pork, bean sprouts, onions, scallion, and mung beans! The name refers to the sound the batter makes when it’s poured into the hot skillet! Bánh Xèo literally means “sizzling cake”. You typically serve this dish with lettuce, mint leaves, basil leaves, cilantro and dip it in the Vietnamese dipping sauce (Nước chấm). This dish is so unique and has such an amazing flavour profile, if you’ve never tried it before I’m sure you will love it!
How do you eat Bánh Xèo?
You break the crepe into smaller pieces then wrap it in a lettuce leaf, add in your choice of cilantro/ mint/ basil and then dip it into the Vietnamese dipping sauce (Nước chấm).
- Author: Cookingwithchow
- Course: Appetizer/ Dinner/ Lunch
- Servings: 6 crepes
- Prep Time: 10
- Cook Time:10
- Total Time: 20
INGREDIENTS
Batter:
- 1 cup rice flour (4.5 oz)
- 2/3 cup flour (1.5 oz)
- 1.5 tsp turmeric
- 1 + 3/4 cup water
- 200 ml coconut cream (you can sub with coconut milk but the flavour may not be as rich)
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 stalks of scallions (cut into 1 inch pieces)
Filling:
- 1/2- 1 lb pork belly cut thinly into 1 cm strips
- 1/2 medium onion (sliced thinly)
- 18 shrimp (peeled)
- 1/2 lb- 1 lb bean sprouts
Toppings
- Lettuce (tear each piece off)
- Mint
- Cilantro (optional)
- Basil leaves (optional
DIRECTIONS
- Prepare Batter: Combine all batter ingredients minus the scallions into a medium sized bowl. Mix well and cover and refrigerate at least 3 hours. Add in the scallions right before you are ready to cook it!
- Heat a medium non-stick pan on medium-high heat with 2 tsp of coconut oil.
- Add in a couple pieces of pork belly (5-6 pieces) and a couple slices of sliced onion and cook for 2-3 minutes until lightly browned.
- Add in 3 pieces of shrimp and let it cook for ~30 seconds.
- Pour in 1/2 cup of batter and quickly tilt and rotate the pan in a circular direction so that the batter is evenly spread. Add more batter for any spots that are missing batter.
- Add in a handful of beansprouts, and cover and cook with a lid on for 3 minutes on medium-high heat.
- After ~3 minutes, remove the lid and using a cooking brush, brush edges of the crepe with some coconut oil- this will make the crepe extra crispy!
- Once the edges of the crepe are “lifted” from the pan and are crisp, fold in half and transfer to a plate immediately.
- Serve with lettuce, mint leaves, cilantro, basil leaves and with some Vietnamese dipping sauce!
Let me know how you enjoy this recipe in the comments below! Stay tuned for more recipes!
xx, CWC
