‘Bánh’ means cake in Vietnamese and it is a term used to refer to pretty much anything made with flour- from sponge cakes to baguettes to steamed rice cakes.
‘Xèo’ is the sizzling sound the batter makes when it is poured into the skillet.
Out of all the Vietnamese dishes that Maxime has gotten to try since meeting Mai, bánh xèo might still be his favorite and it’s easy to understand why.
The best bánh xèo in Vietnam are usually found in street food stalls, as with much of Vietnamese cuisine. They are eaten hot off the pan with lettuce and a myriad of Vietnamese herbs like húng quế (Thai basil), tía tô (purple perilla), ngò/rau mùi (cilantro), bạc hà (mint).
The fragrant golden batter is made from rice flour, turmeric, green onions, coconut milk, water, and a touch of beer for extra crispiness. They are filled with pork belly, shrimp, mung beans, and bean sprouts.
Though pork belly and shrimp are used traditionally, you can very easily make it vegetarian by substituting tofu, seitan, or veggies of your choice!
Bánh xèo • Vietnamese Sizzling Pancake
Course: MainCuisine: VietnameseDifficulty: Medium6
cakes30
minutes30
minutes1
hour2
hoursIngredients
- Batter
200 g 200 rice flour
50 ml 50 coconut milk
250 ml 250 water
50 ml 50 lager beer (alternative: soda water)
1/2 tsp 1/2 salt
1/2 tsp 1/2 turmeric powder
5 stalks 5 green onion
1 tbsp 1 vegetable oil
- Filling
300 g 300 pork belly (you can use uncured bacon)
6 6 shrimps (uncooked)
200 g 200 bean sprouts
50 g 50 dry mung beans
1/2 1/2 medium white onion
- For serving
Lettuce
Herbs (thai basil, purple perilla, cilantro, mint, etc.)
Dipping sauce (recipe in our Nem Rán post)
Directions
- Soak mung beans for at least 1 hour. Rinse, then steam or boil until soft (about 10-15 minutes). Set aside.
- Peel and de-vein shrimps.
- Poach pork belly (with water and a pinch of salt) until no longer pink in the center. Cut into thin slices.
- Add shrimps to the same pot/broth you used for pork belly, cook on low heat until pink. Remove shrimps with a slotted spoon, let cool, and slice in halves lengthwise.
TIP: save this broth to use as a base for soup! - Thinly slice white onion into thin strips/wedges.
- Dice the green parts of the green onions, we don’t need the white parts for this recipe.
- Whisk together all the ingredients for the batter, except the diced green onion. Add it in once the batter is fully mixed.
- Heat 2 tsps of vegetable oil in a skillet over medium heat.
TIP: we prefer a 10-inch pan that is not non-stick and has tall sides. This will help the fillings and batter at the bottom of the pan stay put when you’re swirling the pan in step 10. - Add a handful of white onion, arrange 2 slices of pork belly and 2 halves of shrimp evenly around the pan.
- Make sure your skillet is hot and the fillings are sizzling before adding the batter. Pour in 1/2 cup of batter, moving as you pour to cover the entire bottom of the pan.
As soon as you pour the batter in, pick up the pan and swirl the extra batter around to cover the sides- you want a thin layer up on the side of the pan to get that super thin crispy edge.
TIP: mix the batter up every time before you scoop so you don’t take all the green onions in one go! - Sprinkle about 2 tablespoons of mung beans and a handful of bean sprouts across the top.
- Put a lid over the pan, reduce heat to medium low, and cook until all the batter has set and there is no more liquid batter sitting on top – about 3-5 minutes.
- Remove lid and continue cooking to let the bánh xèo become crispy. Check to make sure your stove is not too hot to prevent burning the bottom.
- Once the bottom layer is crispy and no longer sticking to the pan, use a spatula to lift one side and fold it in half.
- Remove to plate. Heat pan back up on medium and repeat from step 8 with the rest of the batter/filling.
- Serve with lettuce, herbs, and dipping sauce! Bánh xèo is best eaten immediately, so make and eat them in batches!
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