I followed a cooking course in Thailand and I really liked it. When I traveled to Vietnam a month later, I really wanted to do that again. So when I was in the cute town of Hoi An, I took another cooking course where I learned to make these delicious Vietnamese rice pancakes: Banh Xeo.
What I like about these rice pancakes is the crispy texture. Together with the famous peanut dipping sauce, these pancakes are really one of my favorite Vietnamese street food dishes. In Vietnam, they eat Banh Xeo folded in half with rice paper around it and stuffed with lettuce, bean sprouts and coriander. Just dip in that delicious peanut sauce and enjoy.
Of course you can also make a vegetarian version by removing the pork belly/bacon, the shrimp from the Banh Xeo and the fish sauce from the peanut dip.
Banh Xeo Recipe
Ingredients (for about 6 pancakes)
Banh Xeo
- 200 grams of rice flour
- 2 tsp turmeric
- Pepper and salt
- Water (about 300 ml)
- 2 tbsp Coconut milk
- Spring onion (sliced)
- Oil (for frying)
- A few slices of porkbelly/bacon
- Small shrimps
- Lettuce
- Bean sprouts
- Coriander
Ingredients Peanut-dip
- 1 tsp oil (for cooking)
- 2 cloves of garlic (chopped)
- 125 ml of water
- 1 tbsp peanut butter
- 1 tsp Hoisin sauce
- 2 tsp Chinese soy sauce
- 2 tsp fish sauce
- Peanuts
- Chillies
Instructions Banh Xeo
Mix the rice flour, turmeric, pepper and salt in a bowl. Add water until a batter with a thickness of pancake batter. Add the coconut milk and the chopped spring onion. Let the batter rest for fifteen minutes.
Heat a small skillet over high heat. Put 2 tbsp of oil in the pan at a time. Briefly fry one slice of porkbelly/bacon and a few shrimps in the pan. Make sure the pan is hot and spoon a ladle of batter into the hot pan (you should hear it sizzling). Turn the pan so that the batter is evenly distributed and make sure the pancake is the same thickness everywhere.
Bake the pancake for 1 to 2 minutes crispy and a little brown on the bottom.
Then turn the pancake over and add a little more oil when it is almost absorbed. Tilt the pan a little and turn the pancake so that all the edges briefly fry in the oil. Be careful not to tilt the pan too much or sit too close to the fire, causing the flame to hit the pan.
Place the Banh Xeo on a plate and sprinkle half of it with lettuce, bean sprouts and coriander. Fold the pancake in half.
Instructions Peanut-dip
Now start making the sauce. Start by frying the chopped garlic in a small saucepan with a little oil. Then add the water, peanut butter, Hoisin sauce, Chinese soy sauce and fish sauce. Bring to a boil and reduce the heat while stirring. Let the sauce thicken slightly.
Add more water if necessary. Spoon into a bowl and sprinkle with some peanuts and a few rings of chili pepper.