Banh Xeo (Vietnamese Crepes)

Banh Xeo – a southern Vietnamese recipe. This is a rice flour crepe flavoured with coconut milk and turmeric and is usually made with pork, prawns and bean sprouts. They look like they have eggs in the batter, but they don’t.

Ingredients

• 1/2 lb boneless pork loin
• 20 medium shrimp
• 10 fresh cilantro stems
• 10 fresh basil sprigs
• 10 fresh mint sprigs
• 2 cups rice flour
• 1/2 cup self-rising flour
• 2 1/2 cups water
• 1 cup coconut milk
• 1/2 tsp curry powder
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 green onion, chopped
• 1 medium onion, coarsely chopped
• 3 cups bean sprouts
• 5 tbsp oil
• Nuoc cham sauce
• Red leaf lettuce

Directions:

Place pork loin in a saucepan; cover with water and bring to a boil over medium heat; simmer until cooked through, about 20 minutes.

Allow pork to cool, then julienne into strips.

Shell and devein shrimp; slice each one in half lengthwise.

Rinse herbs and drain; set aside.

In a mixing bowl, prepare batter by mixing rice flour, self-rising flour, water, coconut milk, curry powder, sugar, salt, and green onion until smooth.

Divide pork, shrimp, onion, and bean sprouts into 5 separate little piles for easy access during cooking.

Heat 1 tbsp oil in non-stick frying pan until hot; cook pork shrimp and onion until it starts to sizzle; add 1/2 cup of batter and swirl to cover pan and get batter underneath.

Place one pile of bean sprouts towards the center of the crepe, then cover the pan tightly.

Turn the heat down to medium and cook for 2-3 minutes, then uncover and loosen edges of crepe and fold over with a spatula to form an omelet.

Transfer the crepe to a serving platter.

Repeat process with rest of batter.

Do not cover the cooked crepes or stack them (they will lose their crispness- they should remain light and airy).

To serve, place one crepe on a plate with some lettuce leaves, herbs also with a small bowl of nuoc cham.

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