Banh Xeo - Vietnamese Crispy Crepe

Ban Xeo is the quintessential Vietnamese fare, using fresh ingredients and combining flavours that are fundamental to any Viet dish in an easy-to-manage parcel.

In Vietnam, flavours are categorised into 5 elements, Wood- Sour, Fire-Bitter, Earth-Sweet, Metal-Spicy, Water-Salty and a balance of these elements in their food is about as close to perfection as you can get in life.

I learnt this years ago in my training and have utilised the principal in any Asian cooking I undertake- if you refer to any of my stir-fry recipes you'll see I add citrus juice, fish sauce, sugar, chili and soy to obtain a balance of flavours, the trick is getting the right ratio of these flavours so that they all reach the different parts of your palate and come together harmoniously...

Listen to me, I sound like a foodie or something. Anyway, now you know about flavour balance, I'll give you the recipe.

http://www.vietnamesefood.com.vn/vietnamese-recipes/vietnamese-dish-recipes/banh-xeo-vietnamese-crepe-dish-recipe.html

You will need...
For the filling;
500gr pork fillet
1 tbs hoisin sauce (salty, sweet, spicy all in one!)
1 tbs fish sauce
1/2 tsp sugar
pinch salt
pinch ground black pepper
1 tbs oil
1/2 brown onion, finely diced
1 large garlic clove, crushed

10 cooked prawns, shelled and de-veined
50gr sliced mushrooms
100gr bean sprouts
20gr dried onion
small handful of fresh mint, roughly chopped*
a couple of oak or butter lettuce leaves to serve

Pancake;
170gr rice flour
1/2 tsp ground turmeric
280ml coconut milk
280ml water
1/4 cup sliced spring onions (or shallots/scallions)
1/2 cup oil for frying

Dipping sauce;
2 limes, peeled and quartered
1/4 cup of water
1/4 cup fish sauce
1/2 small carrot, grated
1/2 tsp sugar
1 small red chilli, sliced
1 small clove garlic, diced

Method..
1. Slice the pork thinly, then marinate in the hoisin, fish sauce, sugar and seasoning for an hour.
2. Heat oil in a wok, and fry onion on low-medium until soft and translucent. Add the garlic and sweat lightly. Add pork and cook on a high heat for about 2-3 minutes, or until pork is coloured well. Set aside.
3. To make the pancakes, sift the flour and turmeric together. Pour milk and water together into a large bowl. Begin to slowly add the flour and turmeric, using a whisk to combine. The mix should be a nice pouring consistency. Add the spring onions, cover, and set aside to rest for 15 minutes.
4. Combine all the dipping sauce ingredients, mix really well and set aside.
5. Heat 1 tbs of oil in a small, shallow, non-stick frying pan. Ladle in enough batter to just coat the base of the pan (don't worry if your first crepe sticks or doesn't work properly, it usually takes one mistake pancake to get the rest of the batch right), and place cooked pork, prawns, mushroom, bean sprouts and dried onion over half of the crepe, while its still in the pan.
6. When the pancake looks crisp around the edges and just cooked, fold the uncovered side of the crepe over the filling. Carefully lift the crepe out of pan and onto a plate. Serve with a garnish of mint and lettuce leaves and a small dish of dipping sauce.

The way to eat a crepe is to break it up and eat it wrapped in a lettuce leaf with dipping sauce poured over the top as seen below

http://tastycrush.com/vietnamese-crepe/

*see if you can find Vietnamese mint at your local international grocer or fruit shop

Recipe adapted from;

http://www.sbs.com.au/food/recipes/crispy-fried-pancake-banh-xeo