A deliciously crisp and lacy pancake from Vietnam, served with a sharp dipping sauce
Banh xeo is a crisp and lacy pancake from Vietnam. This savoury crepe is traditionally filled with pork and prawns (though for an easy lunch I've left out the pork), vegetables and bean sprouts. Depending on where you are in Vietnam, it is made with or without coconut milk. I was taught to make it with just water but prefer the subtle coconut flavour that comes from using a mixture of the two ...
(Serves 4)
200g rice flour, sifted
2 tsp ground turmeric
200ml coconut milk
Generous pinch of sea salt
250ml water
Vegetable, groundnut or rapeseed oil, for frying
1/2 onion, thinly sliced
75g shiitake mushrooms, thinly sliced
180g raw king prawns
150g bean sprouts
1 spring onion (white and green part), finely sliced on the diagonal
For the dipping sauce (nuoc mam pha)
2 tbsp lime juice
50ml fish sauce
200ml lukewarm water
50g caster sugar
1 large red chilli, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
To Serve
Lettuce leaves
A handful of fresh coriander, mint and Thai basil leaves
Whisk together the rice flour, turmeric, coconut milk and salt. Slowly add the water until you have a thin, lump-free batter, about the consistency of single cream. Leave to stand for 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, to make the dipping sauce, whisk together the lime juice, fish sauce and water. Add the sugar and whisk until it dissolves, then add the chilli and garlic and stir to combine. Check that all the sugar has dissolved, then leave to stand.
Heat a non-stick frying or saute pan (that has a lid) over a medium-high heat. Heat 1 tablespoon oil, then fry the onion and mushrooms, until the onions are softened and the mushrooms are turning golden, then remove to a plate. Add the prawns to the pan and fry until pink and cooked through. Remove to the plate.
Pour a little oil into the pan, swirl the pan around, then pat with kitchen paper to give the base an even covering. Turn the heat up to high then, when the oil is very hot, pour in enough pancake batter to make a thin coating on the bottom of the pan.
Swirl the pan around so the batter evenly coats the base, then add a small handful of the cooked onion, mushrooms and prawns, with some bean sprouts and spring onion. Cover the pan with a lid and cook until the pancake turns very crisp. It should be golden at the edges and coming away from the pan.
Remove the lid and use a spatula or fish slice to fold one half of the pancake over the other. Carefully slide on to a plate and serve immediately with plenty of lettuce leaves, coriander, mint and Thai basil (if you can get hold of it), with the dipping sauce in small bowls on the side.
The traditional way to eat banh xeo is to take a lettuce leaf, pile some herbs on to it, then break off a piece of the pancake and place it inside the leaf. Roll it up like a spring roll and dip into the sauce.
Banh Xeo from Dairy Free Delicious by Katy Salter. Photograph: Laura Edwards/www.dairyfreedelicious.com
