vietnamese coconut pancakes

Bánh xèo (translation: Sizzling Pancakes) are crispy, golden, thin-as-can-be savoury pancakes filled with a selection of umami-loaded prawns, tender poached chicken, crunchy sprouts, salad greens and fragrant herbs, then served with the classic Vietnamese dipping sauce, nước chấm.

Read that description to yourself again, then take a moment to absorb the words and all the promises they hold. Good, huh? And yet it still doesn't come close to describing the flavour experience this simple recipe delivers.

This dish is all at once lively, sharp, crunchy, fresh, spicy, cooling, sweet, comforting and satisfying. When someone tries it for the first time, their reactions range from exclamations of “OMG. Why didn't I know about these and why isn't everyone everywhere eating them all the time?!” through to quietly weeping in joy and wonder. 

There are several elements to this dish and at first glance you might think it's too much work. And while it's not a 20 minute mid-week meal, it's actually not so much effort. The trick is this: if you're going to make it, make a lot. This recipe makes about 12 pancakes, which is great for 3-4 people. For 2 people, it's even better because the batter keeps for up to 5 days in the fridge. While you will want to use up the prawn filling on the first day, it takes 5 minutes to make a different filling when you go in for round two a day or two later.

About the batter ingredients:
Flour: traditionally these pancakes are made using rice flour only. I added wheat flour after reading up on different Bánh xèo techniques, because the consensus is that adding wheat flour makes for a more robust pancake, less prone to tearing. The crispiness comes from it being mostly rice flour. 

Egg: I add an egg to my batter, again in the interest of increased robustness. You don't have to. Many don't. But you'll need to be delicate with your flipping skills.

Resting: Some Bánh xèo recipes instruct you to rest the batter for 3 hours or even overnight. I went rogue and didn't do this. I found that the 45 mins of resting I gave it between mixing the batter and preparing my fillings was sufficient. The next day I made more pancakes with the leftover batter, and I didn't see any marked difference. 

Mung beans: note that I don't include mung beans in my recipe. They're a traditional filling in a lot of Bánh xèo recipes. I'd like to tell you that I omit them due to a strong or informed opinion, but honestly it's just that I can't be bothered. The dish is perfect as is, and why boil mung beans on top of the other fillings that need to be prepared if you don't have to? My stovetop is busy enough.

Let's get cooking!

Read More