Living in Sydney’s Inner West close to Marrickville means we are spoilt for choice when it comes to Vietnamese food. It is something we eat on a very regular basis and absolutely love. From a quick Banh Mi at lunchtime to a delicious pipping hot bowl of Pho on a winters day, Vietnamese cuisine has so much to offer.
One of the dishes we really love when we go out for Vietnamese is Banh Xeo, its a delicious crispy turmeric crepe, that is usually stuffed with chicken or prawns or tofu, then wrapped in a lettuce leaf with mint and dipped into a tasty dipping sauce called Nuoc Cham.
The flavours are so fresh, vibrant and well balanced in this dipping sauce you could literally drink it! Not only that you can use it for many different dishes, dress a delicious vermicelli and lemongrass chicken bowl with it, or dip spring rolls into it, or pour it over a crunchy salad. After I made this dish the next day I poured this sauce into the salad roll I was having for lunch and it was AMAZING! The opportunities are endless.
When you serve this dish you are going to get really messy. You have to eat it with your hands, there is no other way! Just accept the fact that you will have sauce dripping down your arm and be at one with it! Its totally worth it! Put everything in the centre of the table and let everyone help themselves, its super fun to eat this way!
Banh Xeo (Vietnamese Turmeric Crepes)
Equipment
- 1 Wok
- 1 Mixing Bowl
- 1 Chopping Board
Ingredients
Batter for crepes
- 1 cup Rice flour
- ½ cup Corn starch
- 1 tsp Turmeric
- 1 tsp Salt
- 1 tbsp Shallot (minced)
- 1 cup Coconut milk
- 1½ cup Water
Nuoc Cham (dressing/ sauce)
- 2 tbsp Sugar
- 1 Garlic clove (minced)
- 1 tsp Ginger (minced)
- 1 Shallot (minced)
- 1 Birds eye chilli (finley chopped)
- 2 tbsp Fish sauce
- 2 tbsp Lime juice
- 6 tbsp Water
Prawn filling
- 1 tbsp Peanut oil
- 1 Garlic clove (minced)
- 16 King Prawns
- 1 cup Beansprouts
- 1 tbsp Shallot (sliced)
To Serve
- Butter lettuce
- Vietnamese mint
Instructions
Crepe Batter
- Start the crepe batter the day before you are going to cook your Ban Xeo
- Add rice flour, corn starch, turmeric, salt and minced shallot to a large mixing bowl and stir to combine.
- Add coconut milk and water to your flour mixture and stir until well combined and the consistency of pancake batter.
- Cover and refrigerate overnight.
Nuoc Cham
- Make your Nuoc Cham at least a couple of hours before you are ready to cook or up to overnight.
- Add sugar, garlic, ginger, shallot, chilli, fish sauce, lime juice and water to a bowl or a jar and stir to combine.
- Cover and refrigerate until needed.
Making the crepes
- Remove crepe batter and Nouc Cham from the fridge and allow to come to room temperate.
- Meanwhile wash and dry your lettuce and mint and arrange on a platter, then you can get on with your crepe filling.
Garlic Prawns (crepe filling)
- Heat a wok to medium/ high heat and add peanut oil.
- Add garlic and stir-fry for 30 seconds until fragrant (don't let the garlic brown or burn).
- Add prawns and stir-fry for two minutes until prawns are no longer opaque.
- Add beansprouts to prawns and stir-fry for a further 30 seconds.
- Turn off the heat and stir through shallots, then remove to a plate and keep warm.
Making the Crepes
- Once your batter is at temperature, heat a wok to medium/ high heat and add a couple of tablespoons of peanut oil to the work making sure you coat the entire wok.
- When wok is hot add a ladle full of batter (About half a cup) spreading the batter out on the bottom and even a little up the sides of the wok. (Do this by tilting the wok slightly).
- Cook batter for a couple of minutes until a crust starts to form on the bottom, then spoon a couple of spoonful's of the prawn mixture to one side of your crepe and fold the other side over (see video at 5 minute in).
- Repeat until your batter and filling is finished (should make 3/ 4 crepes).
To Serve
- Place crepes on a large chopping board and slice into pieces.
- Grab a piece of lettuce and place some mint into it then add a couple of pieces of crepe. At this point you can either spoon some Nouc Cham on top of your crepe and then roll it up, or roll up first and then dip your lettuce parcel into the Nuoc Cham and enjoy.