I am pretty tickled when people first discover bánh xèo and start gushing about it. I love it too. It's one of my favorite things to eat.
Growing up, my family would order them at restaurants. We didn't make them at home. Why we only ate them at restaurants started to dawn on me after a few attempts at making them.
Making bánh xèo from scratch can definitely be a thing.
However, I have learned that prepping everything out is key, once prepped it's easy to quickly crank out a lot of them.
Initially, creating the ultra crispy texture was the biggest challenge. I have plowed through all kinds of recipes and different pans. This is what I have discovered – Andrea Nguyen’s shortcut rice flour batter recipe has worked out the best for flavor and texture, and a 10" cast iron skillet is the best pan for achieving the right amount of crispiness.
I do love the standard filling of shrimp & pork but after making them at home a few times, I have started to prefer a mix of shiitake and portobello mushrooms. Because ramps are in season and I had a lot on hand, I figured it would be a nice substitute for the scallions. And it was! A little more musky and earthy than scallions, the ramps paired nicely with the mushrooms, which are also popping up in abundance at the farmers’ markets.
Many of the ingredients can be sourced from a farmers market or Asian grocer. I prefer using fair trade & organic brands for the other key ingredients whenever possible: Bob’s Red Mill for the rice flour and corn starch, Frontier for the turmeric, Natural Value for the coconut milk, Organic Coconut Sugar from Trader Joe’s, and Red Boat for the fish sauce.
Ramp & Mushroom Bánh Xèo
Recipe adapted from Into the Vietnamese Kitchen: Treasured Foodways, Modern Flavors, by Andrea Nguyen (via NPR)
Makes 8 bánh xèo
Rice Batter:
2 cups rice flour
2 cups water*
¼ cup coconut milk*
1 ½ tbsp cornstarch
6 to 8 ramps (or two scallions)
1 tbsp Kosher salt
1 heaping tsp ground turmeric
Approx. 4 to 5 tbsp coconut oil (for frying in the skillet)
Chop the ramps (root, stems, and leafy greens). Set aside. Whisk rice flour, cornstarch, and salt together. Stir in coconut milk and water, whisk together until smooth, add turmeric . Fold in ramps. Set the batter aside and allow it to rest for an hour.
The Filling:
4 cups of sprouted mung beans
½ lb portobello mushroom
½ lb shiitake mushroom
Olive oil
Salt, pepper, and garlic powder to taste
Slice mushrooms and saute in oil at a medium / high heat. Season with salt, ground pepper, and garlic powder to taste. Cook until soft and tender. Set aside.
The Garnish Plate:
Wide leafy lettuces for wrapping around the crêpes (red oak, butter, etc.)
1 bunch mint
1 bunch basil
1 bunch cilantro
Note: Basil, mint, and cilantro microgreens are lovely in this dish. I usually use whole cilantro and mint + basil microgreens.
Wash and dry lettuces and herbs. Arrange on plates or one large platter for sharing.
Nước Chấm (Dipping Sauce):
½ to ¾ cup of water
3 tbsp of fresh lime juice
2 tbsp sugar (I prefer coconut sugar)
2 tbsp fish sauce
1 sliced hot pepper (thai chili, red or green jalapeno, or serrano)
1 clove of garlic (minced)
First, mix together the lime juice and sugar. Add water and make a tart “limeade”. Then add fish sauce, garlic, and hot pepper. Aim to create a balance between hot, sweet, sour, and umami. Adjust as needed.
Cooking the Báhn Xèo
Heat up a cast iron skillet until very hot, add one heaping tsp of coconut oil, using a pastry brush cover the entire surface evenly (or swirl the pan). When the oil is hot, ladle in about ⅓ cup of batter and aim to cover the whole surface with a very thin layer, it should sizzle and bubble when it hits the pan. Add mung beans and mushrooms on one half.
When the batter is cooked and the edges look crispy and begin to pull away from the pan, use a spatula to go underneath and then flip and fold. If it doesn’t pull away easily or it is sticking to the pan, add another ½ to 1 tsp of coconut oil around the edge and use a spatula to lift the sides so the oil can make its way underneath towards the middle.
*Keep extra water and coconut milk on hand to thin out batter as needed. I find that the batter is sometimes too thick to spread fast and evenly across a hot pan. Adding some water and coconut milk as needed ensures that the batter will spread across the pan properly and become thin enough to be lacy and crispy. Aim for the batter to be a little thinner than pancake batter.
Serve with the lettuce, herbs, and nước chấm. Cut in half, or tear off pieces, tuck some of the herbs / microgreens inside the crêpe, and wrap with lettuce. Dip the lettuce wrapped crêpes into the dipping sauce. Eat with your hands and enjoy!