Banh Xeo - Crispy Rice Pancakes

One of my favourite Vietnamese snacks is Banh Xeo - a crispy Rice flour and coconut milk pancake, filled with chewy pork and prawns, fragrant fresh herbs like Thai basil, Vietnamese mint and coriander, and crunchy beansprouts. It's served with Nuoc Cham, the classic Vietnamese sauce, wonderfully sweet and sour with a pungent hint of fish sauce and a wallop of chillies.

I learnt how to make Banh Xeo in Hoi An in Vietnam, at a wonderful Vietnamese restaurant/cooking school Morning Glory. I had a private lesson with Mrs Vy the chef and learnt so much about Vietnamese cuisine. 'Xeo' means sizzling, and that's the sound you'll hear as the pancake batter goes into the pan. Traditionally these are sliced, popped onto lettuce leaves, and smothered in herbs, before wrapping the lettuce parcel up and dipping it in the sauce.

In Washington, I went shopping in a great little suburb called Georgetown and stumbled across a fabulous Vietnamese restaurant - their Banh Xeo didn't disappoint, and reminded me of how long it had been since I made them. So here I am, replicating another dish from my trip.

My version is a little different to the traditional way of preparing Banh Xeo. I add cornflour to the rice flour to make it firmer and less likely to break up, though even if they do break they taste fabulous anyway. I also fill the pancakes with everything including the herbs and serve with the dipping sauce, rather than slice it up, pop it onto lettuce leaves and put the herbs on top.

Here's one that didn't quite turn out right, but was delicious anyway.

For those in Doha, rice powder is the same as rice flour, and Vietnamese mint is hard to come by, I occasionally find it at Megamart, but use normal mint if it's not around.

Banh Xeo with Prawns and Pork

• 2 cups rice flour
• 3 tablespoons cornflour
• 2 cups iced water
• 400 mls coconut milk
• 1 teaspoon turmeric
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon white pepper
• peanut oil to fry
• 2 tablespoons mung bean paste (steamed mung beans ground to a paste with a little bit of water) optional
• 1 cup beansprouts
• 1/2 cup Thai basil
• 1/2 cup Vietnamese mint leaves (normal mint is fine)
• 1/2 cup chopped coriander
• 300 grams pork, chopped fine and fried until crisp (I quite often use bacon)
• 300 grams prawns, cooked and chopped
• 1/2 cup chopped spring onions
• 2 cups washed butter lettuce leaves

Nuoc Cham

• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup hot water
• 3 tablespoon lime juice (juice of a large lime)
• 1/4 cup fish sauce
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1-2 bird’s eye chilies, cut into very fine rings
• spring onion (optional)

Method

To make the Nuoc Cham, mixed all of the ingredients together and stir until sugar is dissolved, set aside to cool. You can add spring onions and/or coriander once cooled.

Make the pancake batter by mixing the rice flour, cornflour, salt, pepper, tumeric, water and coconut milk with a whisk until lump free. Cover and refrigerate for at least an hour, or overnight.

To make the pancakes, have everything chopped and ready to go. Heat a teaspoon of peanut oil in a small non-stick frying pan over medium to high heat, drizzle in a small ladleful of batter and swirl to coat the base (like you would a crepe). Listen closely and you'll hear the Xeo, it should sizzle away quite merrily.

Add in the pork and prawns, and cook for a minute or two. Check the bottom of the pancake, it should be lovely and golden and the top should be almost set.

Add in the spring onions.

Closely followed by the herbs and beansprouts.

Fold over carefully, and slide onto a plate to serve.

Cut into pieces, wrap each piece in lettuce and dip in Nuoc Cham sauce.



Good Morning Vietnam

I know I know, the title is a cliche, but so appropriate, it's 6am in the morning, and I've just popped two onions and some ginger on the barbeque. It's not your usual hour to fire up the grill, but I have a hankering for a bowl of pho. It was my staple breakfast throughout Vietnam, and roasting the onion and ginger is the start to creating the divine stock that forms the basis of the soup.

I loved Vietnam - the crowds, the temples, the beaches, the sounds, even the crazy motorbike drivers (well maybe not), but everything else was fabulous. It's a country that overwhelms the senses, constant noise, vibrant colours and interesting smells, and the food (especially street food) is so much a part of the ambience. The food is prepared quickly, noisily, the colours are so bright they look photo-shopped, the smells are intoxicatingly heavenly and the tastes are a beautiful balance of salty, sweet, sour and spicy.

Walking the streets of Vietnam, I was fascinated by the women carrying the “don ganh” (or yoke), In the baskets attached they carried a portable kitchen and restaurant - in one basket a charcoal grill, with a large pot of simmering stock. In the other stacked bowls of noodles, fresh herbs, sliced meat, spoons, bowls and cups, and plastic stools. They stopped on demand and set up shop, delivering a fabulous tasteful bowl of Pho (a rich noodle soup, laced with fragrant herbs, and finished with lime and chillies to taste).

My favourite place to eat was the market - try it if you're ever in Vietnam. Head to the local market, sit yourself down on a rickety plastic stool, and get ready to have a taste experience you‘ll love. You’ll be encouraged (vigorously so) to try everything, and as cheap as it is why not, from freshly made spring rolls in Ho Chi Minh City, to Ban Xeo (steamed dumplings) in the historic and beautiful town of Hoi An, and the famous Pho (noodle soup) found all over Vietnam and cooked to perfection in Hanoi, the food will simply astound you.

Chicken Pho

(If you don't fancy making the stock from scratch, use 2 litres of a good quality stock, add 3 tablespoons fish sauce, 1 tablespoon palm sugar, 2 tablespoons coriander seeds, 4 whole cloves and 1 bunch of chopped coriander)

If you have the time though, give it a go, the taste of the stock is phenomenal.

• 2 brown or white onions, unpeeled
• 10cm piece of ginger, unpeeled
• 2 kilos whole chicken
• 1.5 kilos chicken bones (backs or thighs)
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 3 tablespoons fish sauce
• 1 tablespoon palm sugar
• 2 tablespoons coriander seeds, toasted in a dry pan for 1 minute until fragrant
• 1 small bunch coriander
• 1 packet of rice noodles, soaked in warm water for 20 minutes
• 2 cups shredded chicken (from the chicken cooked in the stock)
• 4 spring onions, finely sliced
• 1/3 cup chopped coriander
• 3 cups beansprouts
• small bunch of mint
• small bunch of thai basil, leaves only
• 3 small chillies, deseeded and sliced thinly
• 3 limes, cut into wedges

Method 

Make the stock

• Place the onions and ginger on the barbeque, or under the grill, and cook until skin is charred, turning frequently, this takes about 15 minutes. Remove from heat and cool.

• Rinse the cooled onions under warm running water, rubbing off the charred skin, cut in half. Peel the skin from the ginger and chop ginger in half lengthways
• Rinse the chicken under cold water, using a big knife, make bone cuts every two inches on the chicken, this releases the bone marrow and adds flavour to the stock
• To make a clear stock, parboil the chicken first - cover the whole chicken and chicken pieces with water in a stockpot, bring to the boil and boil for 5 minutes. Dump into the sink and rinse the chicken pieces and chicken.
• Pop back into the pot and add 6 litres of water, and bring back to the boil, skim off any scum that floats to the top. Add the onions, ginger, salt, fish sauce, sugar, coriander seeds, cloves and coriander and cook uncovered for 30 minutes.  
• Remove chicken, cool slightly, remove the breasts and chop off the legs. Cover and refrigerate. Put the carcass back into the pot with the bones and simmer stock gently for about 1 1/2 hours
• Strain through a fine mesh sieve lined with muslin cloth and set aside

Putting the bowls together

1. Bring the stock to the boil
2. Place a portion of noodles on a mesh strainer and dunk the noodles in the stock for 20 seconds until they collapse. Pop into a bowl, top with the green onions, sprouts and coriander
3. Place shredded chicken on top, and ladle the stock on top of the noodles

4. Serve immediately and add the mint, thai basil, chillies and limes to taste