This month I would like to bring a little Vietnamese taste to Her View From Home. My ethnic background is Chinese-Vietnamese and I have grown up learning Vietnamese cooking from my mum.
I have made a very traditional Vietnamese dish called “Bánh Xèo” translated to sizzling crêpes. It brought back a lot of happy childhood memories when I was making these. Traditionally, you eat them with prawns and pork belly and plenty of fresh vegetables or if you are vegetarian I find smoked tofu and vegetables taste just as good! We usually serve them with lots of different types of herbs and lettuces.
This dish is definitely something for the whole family, very toddler friendly. I told my toddler son they are called crispy pancakes. haha!
Let’s make some sizzling crêpes!!!
Ingredients for bánh xèo batter
- 150gr rice flour
- 1/4 / 60 ml cup coconut cream (I used the thick part floating of coconut milk)
- 1/2 tsp ground turmeric
- 2 stalks of spring onion / Scallion (thinly sliced)
- 1/2 tsp himalayian salt
- 1 cup / 250 ml water
- vegetable oil for cooking
Ingredients for the filling
- 200 gr pork belly, thinly sliced (optional – cooked for 30-40 minutes in salted water on medium heat)
- 1/2 cup cooked prawns (optional)
- 2 large carrots, thinly shredded / grated)
- 1 cup beans sprouts
- 1 yellow onion (thinly sliced)
Side dish
- 1/2 cup mint leaves
- 1/2 cup coriander leaves
- 1 -2 cups of mixed lettuces
- 1/2 cup cucumber
- 1/2 cup sliced spring onions / scallions
- 1 cup beans sprouts
Ingredients for Nuoc Cham Sauce – Vietnamese sweet & sour dipping sauce
-
1 clove garlic (chopped)
-
1/2-1 red thai bird’s eye chile (chopped, it’s very hot!)
-
1 tbps fish sauce
-
1 tbsp sugar
-
1/4 cup water
-
juice of 1/2 of a lemon
Method
- Boil pork belly in salted water for 302-40 minutes.
- Prepare all vegetables and make the dipping sauce.
- Combine rice flour, coconut cream, turmeric, spring onion and salt in a bowl with water. Stir until a smooth batter forms. Cover and set aside to rest for 1 hour.
- Heat a non-stick frying pan (I used a medium size) over medium-high heat until it’s hot. Brush over with vegetable oil then add 1/4 cup batter, swirling pan to form a thin crêpe. If you are use a large frying pan then double the amount of batter.
- For each crêpe, add a few pieces of pork belly, sear both sides, the add onion and a few pieces of prawns. Cook for about 2-3 minutes or until it’s just cooked through, scatter one half of pancake with carrots, bean sprouts. Flip pancake in half to cover filling and cook for a further 30 seconds.
- Remove and serve while it’s still crispy with the side dish and pour some dipping over the crêpe.
- Repeat the process with the remaining batter.
ENJOY!