BÁNH XÈO
Sorry to play favorites but bánh xèo (pronounced “boon say-oh"), you are my favorite. It means "sizzling pancake," and it's just that. The savory, crisp-edged, crepe-like pancake is best enjoyed straight from the pan. The batter is made with rice flour, coconut milk, and turmeric (hence the nice golden-yellow hue) and is pan-fried altogether with pork, shrimp, and a heap of bean sprouts. Wrap up the pancake with lettuce and herbs. I'll never forget stuffing my face with these on tiny plastic stools at Bale Well in Hoi An.
Bánh xèo [ɓǎɲ sɛ̂w],
literally "sizzling cake", named for the loud sizzling sound it makes when the rice batter is poured into the hot skillet is a Vietnamese savory fried pancake made of rice flour, water, turmeric powder, stuffed with slivers of fatty pork, shrimp, diced green onion, and bean sprouts.
Sorry to play favorites but bánh xèo (pronounced “boon say-oh"), you are my favorite. It means "sizzling pancake," and it's just that. The savory, crisp-edged, crepe-like pancake is best enjoyed straight from the pan. The batter is made with rice flour, coconut milk, and turmeric (hence the nice golden-yellow hue) and is pan-fried altogether with pork, shrimp, and a heap of bean sprouts. Wrap up the pancake with lettuce and herbs. I'll never forget stuffing my face with these on tiny plastic stools at Bale Well in Hoi An.
Bánh xèo [ɓǎɲ sɛ̂w],
literally "sizzling cake", named for the loud sizzling sound it makes when the rice batter is poured into the hot skillet is a Vietnamese savory fried pancake made of rice flour, water, turmeric powder, stuffed with slivers of fatty pork, shrimp, diced green onion, and bean sprouts.
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Bánh xèo seems to be designed to be eaten as a family. The batter, filling ingredients, and veggies aren’t complicated to prepare, but they don’t make sense to be bought or made to be eaten by yourself.
You don’t just buy 1/4 pound of pork, 8 shrimps, or buy 1/4 head of lettuce. You kind of have to bump the volume to make each step worth the prep and to me, meals that are shared are a lot more fun anyway. These crêpes take a little bit of prep time and organization, then you can just keep knocking these guys out faster than people can eat them. Bánh xèo is food meant to be eaten with your hands. You’ll always find a big plate of greens with a mix of herbs to go with it. You can substitute green leaf lettuce for the mustard greens in a pinch, and mint is the only must-have herb here with cilantro and Vietnamese perilla being the other commonly used ones. However you can really throw in whatever you like. Ingredients Batter
Instructions Prepare Batter
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