Banh Xeo

(Vietnamese filled crepe)

Yield: about 4-6 small crepes

INGREDIENTS	PREP	AMOUNT
Crepe Batter
Rice flour		1 cup
Sugar		1/2 tsp
Salt		1/2 tsp
Turmeric		1/4 tsp
Coconut milk		1 cup
Water		about 1/2 cup

Filling
Oil		2-3 Tbsp
Shallot or scallions	minced	2-3 Tbsp
Garlic	minced	2-3 cloves
Shrimp	peeled, deveined	3/4 lb
Fish sauce		2-3 Tbsp
Salt		to taste
Mung bean sprouts	rinsed	1 lb

Salad
Lettuce, green leaf or Romaine	cleaned and separated into individual leaves	1 head
Cilantro		1 bunch
Mint		1 bunch
Nuoc cham dipping sauce

Basic Steps: Mix → Sauté → Sauté → Fill → Fold

In a large bowl, mix together the rice flour, sugar, salt and turmeric. Beat in the coconut milk to make a thick batter, then slowly beat in enough water to make a thin crepe batter. Set aside to rest while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.
Heat the oil over medium-high flame in a skillet or sauté pan and add shallots or scallions and garlic. Sauté 1-2 minutes without browning. Add shrimp and sauté another 3-4 minutes till shrimp is cooked through. Add fish sauce and salt to season, pour shrimp into a bowl and set aside.
Wipe out the skillet or sauté pan and reheat over medium flame. Add a small amount of oil. Stir the crepe batter well and pour 1/2 cup batter into the skillet. Swirl the pan to coat the bottom. Lay 3 or 4 of the cooked shrimp over one half of the crepe and then sprinkle a small handful of sprouts over the shrimp. When the the middle of the crepe looks cooked through and the edges of the crepe begin to brown, fold the crepe over to cover the filling and side onto a plate. Hold in a warm oven as you finish the rest of the crepes.
To serve the crepes, arrange the lettuce and herbs on a large platter. Give each diner his own individual crepe with a small bowl of nuoc cham dipping sauce. Each diner takes a leaf of lettuce, breaks off a piece of crepe and places it in the leaf along with a few sprigs of the herbs. The leaf is then rolled up, dipped in the sauce and eaten.

Add 1-2 chopped scallions to the crepe batter.
Substitute half of the shrimp with pork loin or pork belly cut in thin strips. Sauté the shallots and garlic first, then add the pork to cook through, and finally add the shrimp.
Sauté some sliced mushrooms with the rest of the filling.
Substitute fried, shredded tofu for the shrimp to make a vegetarian version. Add a variety of mushrooms to give a meaty flavor. Use soy sauce instead of fish sauce.
Beat 4-5 eggs and pour a little over each crepe after you add the batter to the skillet, but before you add the fillings. Cover the pan for about a minute to let the egg set, then continue with the filling ingredients.
Include some peeled, seeded and thinly sliced cucumber or julienne carrot with the rest of the salad ingredients if you like.

Banh xeo (pronounced "bahn SAY-oh") is a popular street snack in Vietnam, especially the south. The name means "sound crepe" and it indicates the sound the batter makes when it hits the hot skillet.
Although typically a snack food, banh xeo is perfect as part of a larger meal or alone as a light meal.