Bánh Xèo (Crispy Vietnamese Turmeric Pancakes with Pork and Shrimp)

Bánh xèo are the sizzling crepes of Vietnam: a thin rice-flour batter, golden with turmeric and made rich with coconut milk, is poured into a hot pan where it hisses (xèo is the sound) and fries into a lacy, crackling shell around slices of pork belly, shrimp, bean sprouts and soft mung beans. You tear off pieces, bundle them in lettuce with a fistful of herbs and dunk them in sweet-sour nước chấm. The pancakes come off the stove one after another, so it is a relaxed, hands-on meal for a cool weekend when everyone can gather around the table and eat as you cook.

Three things separate a crisp bánh xèo from a soggy one. The batter must rest for at least 30 minutes so the rice flour fully hydrates; skipping this gives a gritty, floppy pancake. A little cornstarch and the fat from the coconut milk help the edges fry to a glassy crunch. And the pan technique matters: a hot non-stick pan, a thin swirl of batter, a lid on for two minutes to steam the sprouts through, then the lid off and a drizzle of oil around the rim so the bottom fries crisp and the edges lift away on their own.

Ingredients

For the batter

• 200 g (1 2/3 cups) rice flour, not glutinous
• 30 g (1/4 cup) cornstarch or tapioca starch
• 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
• 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1 teaspoon sugar
• 300 ml (1 1/4 cups) cold water, or sparkling water for extra crispness
• 200 ml (3/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon) coconut milk
• 3 scallions, green parts only, thinly sliced

For the filling

• 200 g (7 oz) skinless pork belly or pork shoulder, sliced very thin
• 200 g (7 oz) medium shrimp, peeled and deveined, halved lengthwise if large
• 1 teaspoon fish sauce and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper, for seasoning the pork
• 100 g (1/2 cup) split peeled mung beans, soaked 1 hour and steamed until tender (optional but traditional)
• 1 small onion, thinly sliced
• 200 g (7 oz) bean sprouts
• About 6 tablespoons vegetable oil for cooking

For serving and the nước chấm

• 1 head soft lettuce, plus a big platter of mint, perilla, Vietnamese coriander and cilantro, and mustard greens if you can find them
• 3 tablespoons fish sauce, 3 tablespoons sugar and 100 ml (scant 1/2 cup) warm water
• 2 tablespoons lime juice, 1 garlic clove finely minced and 1 red chili finely chopped

Instructions

1. Whisk the rice flour, cornstarch, turmeric, salt and sugar in a large bowl. Add the water and coconut milk and whisk until completely smooth; the batter should be thin, like heavy cream, and coat a spoon in a see-through layer. Stir in the scallions, cover and rest at room temperature for at least 30 minutes, or up to 2 hours in the fridge.
2. While the batter rests, steam the soaked mung beans over boiling water for 12 to 15 minutes until tender but still holding their shape, and set aside. Toss the pork slices with the fish sauce and black pepper; season the shrimp with a pinch of salt.
3. Make the nước chấm: stir the sugar into the warm water and fish sauce until dissolved, then add the lime juice, garlic and chili. Taste; it should be balanced between salty, sweet and sour, and you can thin it with a splash more water. Wash and dry the lettuce and herbs and arrange on a platter.
4. Heat a 26 to 28 cm (10 to 11-inch) non-stick skillet over medium-high heat with 1/2 tablespoon of oil until it shimmers. Add 3 or 4 slices of pork, 3 or 4 shrimp and a few slivers of onion and cook for about 1 minute, until the pork begins to color and the shrimp turn pink at the edges.
5. Stir the batter well, then ladle in about 100 ml (scant 1/2 cup) while immediately tilting and swirling the pan so it spreads into a thin, even layer that reaches the edges. It should sizzle loudly the moment it hits the pan. If it does not, the pan is not hot enough.
6. Scatter a small handful of bean sprouts and about 1 tablespoon of steamed mung beans over one half of the pancake. Cover with a lid and cook for 2 minutes so the sprouts steam and the top of the batter sets.
7. Remove the lid, drizzle about 1 teaspoon of oil around the rim of the pancake and cook uncovered over medium heat for another 3 to 4 minutes, until the edges are deep golden brown, lacy and lifting away from the pan and the underside crackles when you tap it with a spatula.
8. Fold the empty half over the filling, slide the pancake onto a plate and serve right away, or keep warm on a rack in a 100°C (210°F) oven so it stays crisp. Wipe the pan if needed, add more oil and repeat with the remaining batter and fillings to make 8 pancakes in total.
9. To eat, tear off a piece of pancake, place it in a lettuce leaf with a few herbs, roll it up and dip it into the nước chấm.

Tips

• If your first pancake is pale and soft rather than crisp, the batter is too thick or the pan is too cool. Thin the batter with 1 to 2 tablespoons of water and let the pan get properly hot before the next one; the loud sizzle is your cue.
• Substitutions: use sliced chicken thigh instead of pork, or leave out the meat and shrimp and fill with extra mushrooms and tofu for a vegetarian version, swapping the fish sauce in the batter and dip for soy sauce. If you cannot find split mung beans, simply leave them out; the pancake is still excellent. Bánh xèo flour mixes sold at Asian grocers already contain turmeric and can replace the rice flour, cornstarch and turmeric here.
• Slice the pork belly as thinly as you can; freezing it for 20 minutes first makes this much easier. Thin slices cook through in the minute before the batter goes in.
• Make ahead and storage: the batter can be made a day ahead and kept in the fridge (stir well before using). Cooked pancakes lose their crunch within an hour, but leftovers keep in the fridge for 2 days and crisp up again in a dry skillet over medium heat for 2 to 3 minutes per side, or in an air fryer at 180°C (350°F) for 4 minutes. The nước chấm keeps for a week in the fridge. Freezing the cooked pancakes is not recommended.
• What to serve with it: bánh xèo is a meal in itself with the herb platter and dipping sauce, but a light bowl of canh chua sour soup or a plate of pickled carrot and daikon makes it a fuller spread. Cold Vietnamese beer or iced jasmine tea is the natural drink.

Nutrition

Nutrition information is an estimate only: about 560 kcal, 25 g protein, 29 g fat, 52 g carbohydrate per serving of 2 pancakes with dipping sauce.