Bánh Xèo

Making Bánh Xèo Ahead

Eat immediately. They soften within minutes of folding.

Bánh Xèo: The Method

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1. Whisk the rice flour, cornflour, turmeric and salt with the water and coconut milk to a batter the thickness of single cream.

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2. Stir in the spring onions and rest the batter 30 minutes.

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3. Heat 1 tbsp of the oil in a 24 cm frying pan over a high heat.

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4. Fry a quarter of the pork for 90 seconds, then a quarter of the prawns and onion for 1 minute.

   Mark done Start 90 sec timer

5. Stir the batter and pour a ladleful in, tilting the pan at once to spread it thin.

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6. Drizzle a little more oil round the rim and cook 5 minutes, uncovered, without touching it.

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7. Pile a quarter of the beansprouts on one half, cover, and cook 1 minute.

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8. Fold the crêpe over the beansprouts and slide it out.

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9. Repeat three more times.

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10. Tear pieces off, wrap them in lettuce with the herbs, and dip in nuoc cham.

    Mark done

Related guides: Prep, cook and total time · Pan and tin size.

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Tips for Success

• Batter as thin as single cream, and tilt the moment it goes in.
• Oil round the rim is what crisps the edge.
• Do not touch it for five minutes.

Behind the Recipe

The batter must be thin as single cream and the pan properly hot, and you pour it in and immediately tilt to spread — hesitate and it sets in a thick patch in the middle. The crispness comes from a generous amount of oil round the edge and from leaving it alone: no poking, no lifting to check, five minutes uncovered and then a lid for one.

Good Alongside

Nuoc cham · Pickled carrot and daikon · Iced Vietnamese coffee

Swaps and Variations

• If coconut is a problem, a cooking cream (dairy or plant-based) can stand in for the coconut milk in a sauce; the dish will lose the coconut flavour and taste noticeably different.
• Out of spring onions? A small regular onion, finely sliced, or a few chives stirred in at the end both cover the job.

Questions About Bánh Xèo

Nutrition per Serving

No nutrition figures are given for this recipe: they cannot be worked out reliably from its ingredient list (some ingredient lines cannot be read). Why some recipes have none.

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