Photo: Ser Amantio di Nicolao · CC BY-SA 4.0
Banh Xeo (Crispy Crepe)
A rice-flour batter stained gold with turmeric, fried paper-thin and crisp, then filled with shrimp, pork, and bean sprouts — southern Vietnam's beloved sizzling crepe. Wrap a piece in lettuce and herbs and dip it in sweet-tangy nuoc cham.
Ingredients
- Batter
- Rice flour1 cup
- Turmeric · for the yellow color1 tsp
- Coconut milk0.5 cup
- Water1 cup
- Scallions · sliced2 stalks
- Salt0.5 tsp
- Filling
- Shrimp · peeled150 g
- Pork belly · thinly sliced150 g
- Bean sprouts2 cups
- Onion · sliced0.5
- Cooking oil3 tbsp
- To serve
- Lettuce & perilla · for wrapping
- Herbs · mint, cilantro, basil
- Nuoc cham (dip)
- Fish sauce3 tbsp
- Water4 tbsp
- Lime juice · or vinegar2 tbsp
- Sugar2 tbsp
- Minced garlic1 clove
- Minced chili1
Steps
- ⏲ 30 min
Whisk the batter ingredients smooth and let rest 30 minutes. It should be thinner than pouring cream so it spreads paper-thin.
- ⏲ 1 min
Stir all the nuoc cham ingredients together into a dipping sauce.
- ⏲ 3 min
Season the pork with salt and pepper; peel the shrimp.
- ⏲ 3 min
Heat oil in a pan over high heat and cook the pork, shrimp, and onion through.
- ⏲ 2 min 30 sec
Ladle in batter and swirl to spread thin, pile bean sprouts on one side, cover, and cook 2 minutes.
- ⏲ 1 min 30 sec
Uncover, and once the edges are crisp, fold in half and slide onto a plate.
Wrap a piece in lettuce and herbs and dip into the nuoc cham.
Tips & Variations
Variations
- Vegetarian: Use mushrooms and tofu instead of meat and shrimp.
- Mini banh khoai: Make small, bite-size ones.
- Squid banh xeo: Load it with squid instead of shrimp.
- Beer batter: Swap some water for beer to make it extra crisp.
Tips
- Keep the batter thin and cold for a paper-thin, crackly crepe.
- Heat the pan well before pouring so the edges crisp up lacy.
- Add the bean sprouts at the end to keep their crunch.
- Wrapping in herbs and dipping in nuoc cham is the proper way to eat it.
The basics behind this dish
- Browning and the Maillard ReactionMeat fails to brown for one of three reasons: it is wet, the pan is cool, or you put too much in at once. Plus how the brown film stuck to the pan becomes your sauce.
- Cooking Meat: Temperature, Resting, and Cutting Against the GrainDoneness is a core temperature, not a number of minutes. What resting actually does, how to handle a thick cut, and why the direction you slice changes the texture.
- Knife Skills: Grip, Cuts, and Why Size MattersHow you hold the knife matters more than how fast you cut. The pinch grip, the claw hand, and why uniform size is a cooking decision rather than a cosmetic one.
More of the same kind
More from this country
Sign in to edit.
AI-drafted, editor-reviewed · edits: 0 ·Edit history
https://cookiki.com/en/r/banh-xeo · cookiki · User contributions are licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.