Bánh Xèo - Crispy Vietnamese Pancakes

Bánh Xèo - Crispy Vietnamese Pancakes © kvalifood.com

Bánh xèo are thin, crispy rice flour pancakes coloured yellow with turmeric and filled with prawns, bean sprouts, and herbs. The name means “sizzling cake” - a reference to the sound when the batter hits the hot pan. They are eaten wrapped in lettuce or rice paper with dipping sauce.

Ingredients

Makes 8 pancakes

Batter

  • 300 g rice flour
  • 125 ml coconut cream
  • 500 ml water
  • 1 tsp ground turmeric
  • 1 spring onion, thinly sliced
  • 1 tsp salt
  • neutral oil, for cooking

Filling

  • 24 cooked prawns, peeled (tails on)
  • 160 g bean sprouts, trimmed
  • 2 carrots, thinly shredded
  • 2 red bird’s-eye chilies, thinly sliced

To serve

  • coriander leaves
  • shiso (perilla) leaves
  • Vietnamese mint
  • chili, extra
  • spring onion, extra

Dipping sauce

  • 1 tbsp fish sauce
  • 2 tbsp lime juice
  • 3 tbsp sugar
  • 6 tbsp water
  • garlic, to taste
  • chili, to taste

Directions

Make the batter and sauce

  1. Mix the rice flour, coconut cream, water, turmeric, spring onion, and salt together until smooth. Rest for 1 hour.
  2. Make the dipping sauce: dissolve the sugar in the warm water, then add the fish sauce, lime juice, garlic, and chili.

Cook the pancakes

  1. Heat a non-stick frying pan over medium-high heat. Brush with a little oil.
  2. Pour in about 120 ml of batter and immediately swirl the pan to form a thin, even pancake.
  3. Cook for about 3 minutes until the edges are set and the bottom is crisp.
  4. Scatter herbs, chili, carrot, bean sprouts, and 3 prawns over one half of the pancake.
  5. Fold the other half over the filling. Cook for a further 30 seconds, then slide onto a plate.
  6. Repeat with the remaining batter and filling. Serve with dipping sauce.

Notes

  • The batter needs to be thin enough to swirl quickly - thinner than a European pancake batter.
  • The pan should be quite hot to get a crispy bottom. If the pancake is soft, the heat is too low.
  • For a vegetarian version, replace prawns with sliced mushrooms and omit the fish sauce from the dipping sauce (use soy sauce instead).