Banh Xeo (Vietnamese Crepe)
Turmeric-coconut crepe, shrimp, bean sprouts and herb-lettuce wraps and nuoc cham.
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The crepe has to crisp shatter - that's the whole texture story. If it's flexible, the pan wasn't hot enough or you used too much batter. Thin, lacy, golden edges. Eat immediately.
Ingredients
Everything below makes 4 servings.
- 2 cupsrice flour
- 1 cupfull-fat coconut milk
- 1 tspground turmeric
- 4scallionsthinly sliced (whites and greens)
- ¾ lblarge raw shrimppeeled and deveined, halved lengthwise
- ½ mediumyellow onionthinly sliced
- 3 cupsbean sproutsrinsed
- ¼ cupneutral oil
- ¾ tspkosher salt
- 1 headbutter lettuceleaves separated
- 1 bunchfresh mintleaves picked
- ½ bunchThai basilleaves picked
- ½ bunchfresh cilantroleaves and tender stems
- 3 tbspfish sauce
- 1 tbsprice vinegar
- 2 tbspgranulated sugar
- 1limejuiced
- 2garlic clovesminced
- 1Thai chiliminced
In the app these rescale to however many people you're feeding.
Nutrition
Per serving, as written.
- 480calories
- 24gprotein
- 48gcarbs
- 22gfat
Swaps move these numbers. A different protein or base changes them.
Instructions
Knife work first, then the stove. Nothing below asks you to chop while something burns.
- Whisk batter together first so it can rest while you prep everything else.
- Thinly slice scallions, onion, mince garlic, mince Thai chili (or leave whole for milder).
- Pick mint, basil, cilantro leaves and separate lettuce leaves on a serving plate.
- Halve shrimp lengthwise; juice the lime.
Mix batter
In a bowl, whisk rice flour, coconut milk, turmeric, salt, sliced scallions, and 1.5 cups water until smooth - should be the consistency of thin pancake batter. Let rest 20 min.
20 min · hands offMake nuoc cham
Whisk fish sauce, rice vinegar, sugar, lime juice, minced garlic, Thai chili, and 1/4 cup warm water until sugar dissolves. Taste - should be sweet-salty-tart-spicy. Set aside.
3 min · hands onSear filling
Heat oil in skillet over medium-high. Add a handful of sliced onion and 4-5 shrimp halves; cook 90 seconds until shrimp turn pink.
2 min · hands onPour and crisp crepe
Re-whisk the batter (turmeric settles). Pour about 1/2 cup into the hot pan, swirling fast to coat the bottom in a thin even layer. Top with a generous handful of bean sprouts on one half. Cover and cook 2 min, then uncover and cook 2-3 min more until edges are deeply golden and lift away from the pan.
5 min · hands onFold and plate
Fold the empty half over the bean sprouts (like an omelet). Slide onto a plate. Repeat with remaining batter, shrimp, onion, and sprouts - should make 4 large crepes.
1 min · hands onWrap and dip
To eat: tear off a piece of crepe, lay it in a lettuce leaf, pile on mint, basil, and cilantro, roll into a bundle, and dunk into nuoc cham. Repeat aggressively.
2 min · hands onMake it yours
Every swap here is one Maui already knows how to make, including what it does to the timing.
Cook chicken in the pan 4 min before pouring batter; otherwise same flow. Adds about 5 minutes.
Sear crumbled tofu briefly before adding batter; vegan path.
Crumble the tofu before frying into the crepe. Also add 1 tsp rice vinegar.
What keeps
Crepes lose their crisp shatter the moment they cool - eat hot off the pan. Batter can rest overnight in the fridge (actually improves), but cook day-of.
Nuoc cham keeps 1 week.
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