I have yet traveled to Vietnam but I am a big fan of Vietnamese food, thanks to the Little Saigon in Orange County—the largest Vietnamese enclave outside of Vietnam and the place I shop, eat, and have cheap massages!
Last weekend, my friend Chef Danhi invited me to join his Little Saigon tour.
Towards to the end of the tour, he did a cooking demo of banh xeo (pronounced as banh say-oh), or Vietnamese coconut crepes with pork, shrimp, and bean sprouts, a recipe that I have been wanting to learn. I volunteered to help him make a serving of banh xeo.
The next day, I went to the market and got all the ingredients and practiced further at home.
While banh xeo is not that hard to make, getting the perfect shape without breaking the crepe is a skill I surely need to work on, or perhaps, I will have to acquire the pan flipping skill that would flip the banh xeo and land it on the pan instead of the kitchen floor.
According to Chef Danhi, banh xeo is a southern Vietnam recipe. Xeo means “sizzling” so it’s also known as sizzling Saigon crepes.
I used vegetable oil to make my banh xeo, but traditionally, it’s made with lard. To eat, just wrap it with a lettuce leaf and herbs (Thai basil, Perilla herb, mint leaves) and then dip in nuoc cham, the ubiquitous Vietnamese dipping sauce made of fish sauce, lime juice, and sugar.
How Many Calories per Serving?
This recipe is only 393 calories per serving.
What Dishes to Serve with This Recipe?
For a wholesome meal and easy weeknight dinner, I recommend the following recipes.
5 Secrets to 20 Min Dinners
Get tricks for quick & easy meals!
Banh Xeo (Sizzling Saigon Crepes)
Banh Xeo is a Vietnamese savory crepe with shrimp and pork. This banh xeo recipe makes delicious servings of banh xeo at home. A must try Vietnamese recipe.
Ingredients
Rice Batter:
- 2 cups rice flour
- 1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 cup water
- 3/4 cup canned coconut milk
- 3 scallions thinly sliced on extreme angle, about 1/4 inch thick
Fillings:
- 1 cup lard or vegetable oil
- 1/4 lb. pork shoulder, cut into thin slices
- 1/4 lb. small shrimp peeled and deveined, slices in halves lengthwise
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup sliced yellow onions about 1/8 inch thick
- 1 to 2 medium long red chilies sliced thinly into rings, about 1/8 inch thick
- 3/4 cups sliced mushrooms (1/8 inch slices)
- 2 cups bean sprouts trimmed preferred
Nuoc Cham Recipe
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup warm water
- 3 tablespoon lime juice
- 1/4 cup fish sauce
- 1-2 bird's eye chilies cut into very fine rings
- 1 clove garlic minced finely, optional
Directions
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1
In a large bowl, whisk together the rice flour, turmeric powder and salt. Add water and coconut milk and whisk until mixture is smooth. Strain through sieve if there are lumps. Set batter to rest for 30 minutes.
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2
Heat up a 10-inch non-stick saute pan or skillet over high heat. Add 1 tablespoon lard/oil and then add one portion of pork, shrimp, onions, scallions, and mushrooms. Stir fry until pork and shrimp are half done, and ladle 1/2 cup of batter into pan. Swirl pan to coat bottom evenly. Add bean sprouts over half the crepe (on the right). Drizzle another 1 tablespoon of lard/oil around outer edge of crepe and lower heat to medium.
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3
Cover pan and cook for 1 minute. Remove cover and continue to cook until edges begin to brown. Loosen crepe from bottom of the pan with a soft silicon spatula (hard spatula would break the crepe). When the bottom turns light brown and crispy, fold crepe to encase bean sprouts.
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4
Places pieces of cooked banh xeo inside a lettuce leaf, dip in nuoc cham and eat immediately.
Nuoc Cham Recipe
-
1
Add fish sauce, water, sugar and lime juice into a small bowl and mix well until sugar is completely dissolved.
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2Add garlic and chilies and stir.
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3Use as tableside condiment as desired.
SHAWNA S HUNTER
I make these spring rolls all the time. Crowd pleaser.
Nanc
Hi, I’m years behind the other posts but I have to make a comment. Your recipe sounds great going posts, I’m going to make it tonight. I go to a restaurant named ‘Vietnam’ in West Hartford, CT, I order Shrimp Pancake, it is one of the most incredible dishes I have ever had. Chef said it’s an ‘Old Saigon’ Pancake. It was slightly different from yours. The batter had scallions in it and was cooked on one side then flipped to become very crispy on the other side, the pancake was a delicate, airy, 1\2″ thick. The filling of onion, bean sprouts and shrimp were added and the pancake folded in half, then served. The filling is: onion still crispy ish but very carmelized, sauted bean sprouts and good sized shrimp (6-8 shrimp each). My good friend from Vietnam makes them like yours, she said it’s a much easier way to make them. I’d been struggling to copy the recipe for years with little success. Thanks for the recipe. There’s a large Asian grocery in West Hartford that sells mix packages to make them, I got one of each brand (there were 4, maybe 5 brands), made them all over the next couple months with so so results. Can’t wait to try your recipe.
Rasa Malaysia
Awesome, Nanc. Happy cooking.