Vietnamese Pancakes - Bánh xèo
When we were on a trip to Vietnam a few years ago, I did a cooking course at Morning Glory Restaurant with the fabulous Ms Vy. If ever you are in Hoi An, you really must go to there, fabulous, authentic, Vietnamese food which is uniquely fresh from that region. One thing that we made in the cooking course was crispy Vietnamese pancakes, traditionally they are served with fatty pork and prawns, I don't really like either of those fillings, so I have adapted the recipe to use left over slow cooked sticky asian lamb, they are equally as nice with a vegetarian filling of julienned summer vegetables, or if you have a spiralizer now would be a great time to use it, served with a lime and fish sauce type dressing, they are super yummy which ever fillings you put in them. The recipe below uses the left over lamb and the sauce that it was cooked in topped with bean shoots, carrot and coriander. Mix up the vegetables and herbs, live life on the edge.. Oh.. you can easily half the recipe depending on how many you are catering for, as I have a large family with hungry teenagers, my recipes usually feed between 6-8 people..
Serves 6-8 (depending how many hungry teenagers you have)
Pancakes
400g rice flour
2 small eggs (I replaced the eggs with 2tbls ground flax or chia mixed in 6tbls water - leave to stand for 2mins)
1tsp sea salt
2tsp ground turmeric
2x400ml canned coconut milk
coconut oil for frying in
Place the flour, egg (or soaked flax/chia), salt and turmeric in a large bowl, I used my thermomix. Slowly add the coconut milk. If you are using a thermo, add the milk through the hole in lid with it running on speed 6. If mixing my hand, you need to whisk well whilst adding milk to avoid lumps. You want a thinnish batter, a bit like single cream. Add some more coconut milk or water if it's too thick. You might also need to add a little later as it will thicken a little while resting..
Put aside to rest for about 1/2 hour.
Once rested, warm a heavy based frypan and add some coconut oil. Have it on medium heat otherwise you will burn the pancakes. Ladle some batter into the pan and swirl around to make a thin pancake, flip to other side once crispy and cooked, keep warm in the oven covered with foil while you cook the others. The whole process will take around 1/2 hour.. Whilst your pancakes are cooking you can get on to cutting up the vegetables, just remember to keep a close eye on them so they don't burn.
Sauce (I use this sauce if making veg filling, otherwise use leftover lamb sauce)
80ml lime juice
3 tbls toasted sesame oil
2 tbls maple syrup/honey
2 tbls rice wine vinegar
2 tbls tamari (wheat free soy sauce)
4 tsp fresh grated ginger
1 fresh chilli finely chopped
1 garlic clove, crushed
1/2 tsp sea salt
Whisk everything together, if your using honey you might need to heat it a little to make it runny. Place in a jar or bowl with a spoon.
Filling
2 large carrots
6 spring onions
2 lebanese cucumbers
1 bunch coriander, washed a leaves picked
1 handful of vietnamese mint, leaves picked
1 handful mint, leaves picked
Any other summer veg that takes your fancy.
Put your fillings on a tray and place on the table for people to help themselves as they make their own pancake.
When we were on a trip to Vietnam a few years ago, I did a cooking course at Morning Glory Restaurant with the fabulous Ms Vy. If ever you are in Hoi An, you really must go to there, fabulous, authentic, Vietnamese food which is uniquely fresh from that region. One thing that we made in the cooking course was crispy Vietnamese pancakes, traditionally they are served with fatty pork and prawns, I don't really like either of those fillings, so I have adapted the recipe to use left over slow cooked sticky asian lamb, they are equally as nice with a vegetarian filling of julienned summer vegetables, or if you have a spiralizer now would be a great time to use it, served with a lime and fish sauce type dressing, they are super yummy which ever fillings you put in them. The recipe below uses the left over lamb and the sauce that it was cooked in topped with bean shoots, carrot and coriander. Mix up the vegetables and herbs, live life on the edge.. Oh.. you can easily half the recipe depending on how many you are catering for, as I have a large family with hungry teenagers, my recipes usually feed between 6-8 people..
Serves 6-8 (depending how many hungry teenagers you have)
Pancakes
400g rice flour
2 small eggs (I replaced the eggs with 2tbls ground flax or chia mixed in 6tbls water - leave to stand for 2mins)
1tsp sea salt
2tsp ground turmeric
2x400ml canned coconut milk
coconut oil for frying in
Place the flour, egg (or soaked flax/chia), salt and turmeric in a large bowl, I used my thermomix. Slowly add the coconut milk. If you are using a thermo, add the milk through the hole in lid with it running on speed 6. If mixing my hand, you need to whisk well whilst adding milk to avoid lumps. You want a thinnish batter, a bit like single cream. Add some more coconut milk or water if it's too thick. You might also need to add a little later as it will thicken a little while resting..
Put aside to rest for about 1/2 hour.
Once rested, warm a heavy based frypan and add some coconut oil. Have it on medium heat otherwise you will burn the pancakes. Ladle some batter into the pan and swirl around to make a thin pancake, flip to other side once crispy and cooked, keep warm in the oven covered with foil while you cook the others. The whole process will take around 1/2 hour.. Whilst your pancakes are cooking you can get on to cutting up the vegetables, just remember to keep a close eye on them so they don't burn.
Sauce (I use this sauce if making veg filling, otherwise use leftover lamb sauce)
80ml lime juice
3 tbls toasted sesame oil
2 tbls maple syrup/honey
2 tbls rice wine vinegar
2 tbls tamari (wheat free soy sauce)
4 tsp fresh grated ginger
1 fresh chilli finely chopped
1 garlic clove, crushed
1/2 tsp sea salt
Whisk everything together, if your using honey you might need to heat it a little to make it runny. Place in a jar or bowl with a spoon.
Filling
2 large carrots
6 spring onions
2 lebanese cucumbers
1 bunch coriander, washed a leaves picked
1 handful of vietnamese mint, leaves picked
1 handful mint, leaves picked
Any other summer veg that takes your fancy.
Put your fillings on a tray and place on the table for people to help themselves as they make their own pancake.