A Vietnamese Sizzling Crepe.
An airy and crunchy popular Vietnamese street food dish loaded with fresh vegetables and herbs. This Bánh Xèo recipe brings inspiration from the French cuisine along with the humble ingredients grown and raised across the different regions of Vietnam.
INGREDIENTS
1 pkg Bánh Xèo Mix
2/3 c Soda Water, Beer, Too Chico
1/3 c Coconut Milk
2 -3 c Water
1/2 c Green Onions (sliced)
1 tsp Salt
1 lb Pork Belly
12 pieces Shrimp (raw, deveined, peeled)
1 Onion (thinly sliced)
1/2 c Fish Sauce
1/2 c Bean Sprouts
INSTRUCTIONS
- Gather all your mise en place (ingredients all prepped and placed in separate bowls. (Slice onions, peel and devein shrimp, slice green onions)
- In a large mixing bowl, mix together the Bahn Xeo package, soda water or beer, coconut milk, water, green onions, and salt. Mix well until well the clumps are incorporated into a silky batter. You want your batter to be slightly thinner/waterier than a smoothy or pancake batter.
- Set the batter mix in the fridge for at least 30 minutes. The ideal set time would be 3 hours.
- While that’s setting in the fridge, boil 6 cups of water in a medium-size pot. Once it starts to bubble, drop in the whole slab of pork belly and boil for 15 minutes. Take out and place on a paper towel for 10 minutes.
- Slice your shrimp in half then cut it in half. Place into a medium bowl.
- Add in the sliced onion and fish sauce. Mix until everything is coated in fish sauce. Place aside.
- Once the pork belly has rested and cooled for 10 minutes, slice it in half. Then slice it into 1/4 inch pieces.
- Turn on the stove to a medium heat. In a medium-size nonstick pan, add 2 tbl of oil.
- Add in 4-5 pieces of pork belly. Braise or brown each side for 5 minutes.
- Add in 1/4 c of the onions and shrimp. Add in 1 tbl of bean sprouts. You should have 4-5 small pieces of shrimp in the pan.
- Cook and stir for 5 minutes.
- Turn the heat to a low-high, and pour 3/4 c of batter into the pan. Pour in a circular motion, evenly distributing the batter. Grab the handle of the pan and swirl the batter around in the pan. You want to treat this like a crepe. It should be a thin coat of batter with no holes.
- Cover the pan with a pot cover and cook for 2 minutes.
- Take off the cover, reduce the heat to low-medium and cook for 4 minutes.
- Grab the handle of the pan and gently jiggle the crepe to keep it from sticking to the pan. If it’s stuck, grab a flat spatula and carefully tuck it under the crepe. Lifting the edges and middle.
- Once you’ve unstuck it, gently pour 2 tbl of oil around the edges of the crepe. Turn the heat to medium and sizzle for 4 minutes.
- Fold it in half, place it on a place, and repeat the process until you run out of pork belly and shrimp. (You will have excess Bahn xeo batter but you can keep it in the fridge for up to a week and make it again since you’ll love it so much)
- Serve with a bánh tráng aka rice paper, roll it with fresh veggies, dip it in your Nước Chấm (spicy fish sauce dipping sauce) and enjoy!
If you haven't had bánh xèo, you're seriously missing out.
There... I said it. But it's totally true.
I was first introduced to this unbelievably delicious savory crepe-like dish a couple of years ago. And the one thing I thought to myself, aside from the fact that this might just be one of my all-time favorite recipes, was that I've been missing the fudge out my entire life.
In the more touristy cities like Saigon, they serve it using just the crepe and veggies. And it's like twice the size.
This is the way my mother-in-law makes it which is slightly different than the way most restaurants serve it. In her city, Qui Nhơn of central Vietnam, they make this dish wrapped in bánh tráng (rice paper).
I've never had anything like it.
IT'S DA BOMB DOT COM.
But really... if you haven't eaten freshly made bánh xèo, trying this recipe is a must.
There is so much flavor packed into this simple and humble dish. What does it for me is the variety of textures when you bite into the bánh tráng (rice paper) roll.
You get the airy, crispy crunch from the rice flour batter, the chewy and tender shrimp and pork belly, caramelized onions, then paired with your herbaceous cilantro, and fresh cumber and greens.
It's no wonder Chef Jet Tila won his battle on week 4 of the Tournament of Champions III with his rendition of bánh xèo.
If I was on a cooking show, I would make this dish too. Or at least that's what my husband says I should make to crush the competition. 😜
List of ingredients:
Bánh Xèo Mix
Soda Water, Beer, Too Chico
Coconut Milk
Water
Green Onions
Salt
Pork Belly
Shrimp
Onion
Fish Sauce
Bean Sprouts
Serve it With:
Bánh Tráng (rice paper)
Lettuce Leaves
Cucumber
Cilantro
Nước Chấm (spicy fish sauce dipping sauce)
List of utensils:
Chopsticks or Fork
Medium-size Pot
Medium-size Non-Stick Pan
Medium-size Pot Cover
Mise En Place Bowls
Knife
Cutting Board
Large Mixing Bowl
Can Opener
Bottle Opener
Scissors
