Banh Xeo in our house is equivalent to a steak dinner in a typical American household, we only had it on rare occasions and it's always everyones favorite. The batter is a bit of a challenge to master and you'll probably mess up a few times, but after some practice you should be able to obtain a good consistency and they will turn out perfect! Eating Banh Xeo is always an interactive activity similar to that of hot pot or Korean BBQ. You have to basically assemble your own lettuce cups and dip it in the Nouc Cham (fish sauce). I enjoy it most with Vietnamese fresh herbs (as seen in picture above). The combination of the crispy crepe, juicy shrimp and pork, fresh herbs all wrapped up in a crunchy lettuce wrap will make any taste bud want to do a little dance!
Ingredients:
Crepes
1 cup rice flour (or you can purchase the brand pictured below at your local Southeast Asian market)
1 cup water
3/4 cup canned coconut milk
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon turmeric (usually included if you by the rice flour brand pictured below)
pinch of salt
Vegetable oil for frying
Filling
1/4 lbs ground pork
1/4 lbs shrimp (if not small, chop into smaller pieces)
1 medium yellow onion sliced into 1/8" thickness
2 clove garlic (minced)
2 cups bean sprouts
Wrap
Lettuce Leaves (Preferably leafy ones like Red Leaf Lettuce)
Fresh Herbs such as Mint, Thai Basil, Vietnamese Coriander Leaves (please see earlier post for detailed descriptions of these herbs)
1 cucumber sliced in to 1/4" thickness
Directions:
1. In a large bowl whisk together the rice flour, turmeric powder and salt. Add water, egg, coconut milk and whisk until smooth. Let the batter stand for about 10-15 minutes.
2. Heat up a non-stick skillet (approx 10") over high heat and add 1 tablespoon of oil. Put in the garlic, onions and ground pork. Stir for about a minute and then add the shrimp. Stir fry until pork and shrimp are about half done. Remove the pork and shrimp filling from skillet and set aside in a bowl.
3. Return to the skillet and add another 1 tablespoon of oil. Ladle 1/2 cup of batter into the skillet and swirl the batter until the bottom of skillet is evenly coasted. Cover the pan for 1 minute until the edges are lightly brown. Once edges are brown and a bit crispy, use a rubber spatula to lightly lift batter from the bottom of the pan. If batter lifts off easily off the pan, then it is nicely cooked.
4. Ladle 1/2 a cup of pork and shrimp filling into one half of the batter like an omelet. Top it off with some fresh bean sprouts and fold the other half of batter like an omelet. Let it sit for about 1 minute and remove from skillet with a wide plastic spatula.
5. Repeat this several times until you run out of batter. This recipe will make about 3 large crepes.
6. Clean all the lettuce, herbs and cucumbers. When ready to eat, place wrap ingredients next the crepe for easy assemble. Dip into Fish Sauce and enjoy! *Please see below for fish sauce (aka: Nuoc cham or Tuc Triey).
Nuoc Cham (Vietnamese name) or Tuc Triey (Cambodian name): Fish Sauce
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
1 lemon juice
1/4 cup fish sauce
2 clove garlic (finely minced)
1 birds eye chili (finely chopped)
*optional - roasted peanuts (chopped)
Directions:
1. In a sauce pan add sugar, water, lemon juice, fish sauce until completely dissolved.
2. Add minced garlic and chopped birds eye chili.
3. When ready to serve, pour each person a small bowl full of sauce. Add peanuts if desired.
Rice Flour can be bought at your local Southeast Asian Market. This brand will include the turmeric powder.
Prepare the shrimp, garlic, bean sprouts and onion.
Batter well mixed.
Stir fry the garlic, onion, ground pork and shrimp.
Ladle 1/2 cup of batter into oiled skillet.
Place the pork & shrimp filling on half of the crepe. Don't forget to top off with fresh bean sprouts before folding over!
Give it a nice fold
Viola!
Ready to eat...
