Bánh Xèo Recipe (Vietnamese Crispy Savory Crepes)

December 7, 2018Van
Blog post

Prep time: 20 minutes

Cook time: 50 minutes

Serves: 6-8 Banh Xeo

Bánh Xèo is a dish destined to please any picky eater. Lets face it, we all have that one friend or family member who’s not known for their “adventurous appetite”. Sad but true. I propose Bánh Xèo to the rescue.

Foreign, yet familiar. The crisp shell has a delicious smell and flavor of the coconut oil its seared in. The thin interior layer is almost creamy—and stuffed with shrimp and pork. I also use beer in my batter (which is not traditional), because it adds a wonderful flavor.

Tradition requires these to be wrapped in lettuce and stuffed with herbs such as mint and perilla. This method gives the piping hot crepe a contrast of fresh and cool. The dip is a tangy & sweet fish sauce based sauce that you can choose to dress up like I do—spiced with hot thai chili peppers.

If you’d rather not enjoy the wrapped version, allow your guests to break off small folded pieces—a Vietnamese Street Taco if you wish. This is my husbands favorite Vietnamese Dish—and his standards are high. you can’t go wrong with this savory crepe with the flavors of Vietnam.

Banh Xeo Recipe (Vietnamese Crispy Savory Crepes)

Banh Xeo  Recipe (Vietnamese Crispy Savory Crepes)

Banh Xeo  Recipe (Vietnamese Crispy Savory Crepes)

Print Recipe

Banh Xeo Recipe (Vietnamese Crispy Savory Crepes)

  • Prep time: 20 minutes
  • Cook time: 50 minutes
  • Serves: 6-8 Banh Xeo

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Ingredients

*BÁNH XÈO

  • 1¼ Cup Rice Flour
  • ¼ Cup Corn Starch
  • ¼ Cup Dried Split Mung Beans
  • ½ Cup Coconut Milk
  • 1 Cup Water
  • 1 Cup Beer, or substitute with water
  • ½ Teaspoon Turmeric Powder
  • ½ Teaspoon Kosher Salt
  • 4 Green Onions, only green parts chopped
  • Coconut or Vegetable Oil
  • ½ Pound Pork Shoulder, sliced thin and lightly seasoned with salt
  • ½ Pound Shrimp, peeled, deveined and lightly seasoned with salt
  • Bean Sprouts
  • Green Leaf Lettuce, for serving
  • Mint Leaves, for serving
  • Cilantro, for serving
  • Perilla herb, for serving

*NƯỚC CHẤM / Vietnamese Dipping Sauce

  • ⅓ Cup Red Boat Fish Sauce
  • ⅓ Cup Granulated Sugar
  • ⅓ Cup Rice Vinegar
  • 1 Cup Water
  • 3 Garlic Cloves, finely minced
  • 1-3 Thai Chili Peppers, finely minced

Method

  • 1)

    Soften the mung beans by placing ¼ Cup of Dried Split Mung Beans into a sauce pan and cover with 2 inches of water. Bring to a boil, turn off the heat, let them sit for 15 minutes and strain.

  • 2)

    Make the Nuoc Cham dipping sauce by placing ⅓ Cup of Fish Sauce, ⅓ Cup Sugar, 1 Cup of Water, ⅓ Cup of Rice Vinegar, the finely minced Garlic and finely minced Thai Chilis into a bowl and stir well until the sugar has dissolved. Set aside until ready to serve.

  • 3)

    To make the bánh xèo batter, add 1 Cup of Water, ½ Cup of Coconut Milk, 1 ¼ Cup of Rice Flour, ¼ Cup of Corn Starch, the softened Mung Beans, ½ Teaspoon Kosher Salt, ½ Teaspoon of Turmeric Powder to a blender and blend on high for a few minutes until the mung beans are completely blended.

  • 4)

    Pour the batter into a large bowl. Add 1 Cup of Beer and the chopped green onions and stir well, let the batter rest for 15 minutes before using.

  • 5)

    Heat up a 10 or 11 inch non-stick pan using medium high heat. Add 1 Tablespoon of Oil to the pan and grill some sliced pork shoulder until it’s cooked through then add the shrimp, and cook for another minute. Stir the batter well before making each bánh xèo, add ½-⅔ Cups of batter into your pan and lift it up and swirl the pan around to get an even thin coating of batter. Once the bánh xèo batter is cooked, run a spatula around the edge to loosen the bánh xèo from the pan, drizzle one more tablespoon of oil down the entire edge of the pan so it goes under the bánh xèo, this get’s them extra crispy. Sprinkle on some bean sprouts and cook for another 5 minutes or until they are crispy. Fold it in half and slide the bánh xèo onto a serving plate and serve immediately.

    *Since these take some time to make, it’s better to have two pans cooking at once if you’re serving multiple people.

  • 6)

    Serve with Green Leaf Lettuce, Mint Leaves, Cilantro, Perilla Leaves – make a wrap and dip in nuoc cham. Enjoy!

↓ Supplies to make this recipe ↓








 






2 Comments

  • Cady

    January 2, 2021 at 4:16 pm

    Hi,
    I have made this dish so many times with both stored bought mix and from scratch but never get the crispiness like your recipe.
    I don’t really like mung bean in the batter. What do you suggest to replace it with? Mung bean flour or rice flour and how much ?
    Thank you very much.
    Cady

    1. Van

      January 3, 2021 at 3:14 pm

      Hi Cady, you can omit the mung beans if you don’t want to use them – substitute with 2 Tablespoons of Corn Starch. Try adding a little more oil to your pan, there needs to be quite a bit of oil to get them crispy.

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