Banh Xeo (Vietnamese Pancakes)

Banh Xeo



Hello!


These are a Vietnamese pancake, and a very quick to make, if you don’t include the resting time for the batter.
You could make the batter the night before & keep it in the fridge, covered, or even at lunchtime if you’re making these on the weekend . . . . or if you’re lucky enough not to be stuck in an office all day!
This recipe is derived from one on the fabulous Gourmet Traveller website.
www.gourmettraveller.com.au
160ml Vegetable Oil
1 onino, thinly sliced
450gm pork, thinly sliced
2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
2 tbsp hoisin sauce
1 tbsp fish sauce (or to taste)
Pinch of caster sugar
6 spring onions, thinly sliced
60gm bean sprouts
To serve: lettuce, basil, mint & corainader
NB: you can also add prawns (18 cooked Tiger prawns) as well as the pork. I didn’t, just b/c I had all the other ingredients at home already.


Batter:
170gm rice flour
2 tsp ground tumeric
280ml coconut milk


Nuoc Cham:
80ml fish sauce (or to taste)
80ml lime juice (or to taste)
1 red birdseye chilli, thinly sliced
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
2 tsbp caster sugar

1) For the batter, combine the rice flour & tumeric in a bowl, then whisk in the coconut milk.

2) Meanwhile, take the dog for a walk (well, that is what I did at any rate), and then, wash your hands, and combine all the ingredients for the Nuoc Cham w/ 40ml of water, whisking to combine. It should taste sweet, salty, sour & hot.

3) Heat 40ml oil in a wok over high heat, add onion & stir-fry until tender, then add pork & garlic & stir fry until golden. Add the hoisin, fish sauce & sugar, season to taste, toss to combine, and set aside.

4) Heat 20ml of oil in a 22cm diameter fry pan over high heat, and add a ladleful of batter, swirl to cover the pan thinly, and cook until golden (3-4 mins).






5) Scatter the pork mixture (add prawns if using), spring onions & bean sprouts over half of the pancake, fold over the other half to cover the filling, then slide onto serving plate & keep warm. Repeat with remaning oil, batter & filling, wiping pan w/ paper towel in between each batch.  Serve with lettuce, herbs & Nuoc Cham.