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Bánh xèo (Vietnamese pancakes)
Serves 4 Starters and mains
Ingredients
- 100g rice flour
- 1tbsp cornflour
- 1tsp ground turmeric
- 200ml coconut milk
For the nouc cham dipping sauce
- juice 2 limes
- 2tbsp no-fish sauce
- 1tbsp caster sugar
- 1 Thai red chilli, thinly sliced
- 1 garlic clove, finely chopped
For the filling
- vegetable oil, for frying
- 1 onion, thinly sliced
- 4 large portobello mushrooms,thickly sliced
- 1tbsp dark soy sauce
- 120g beansprouts
- 2 spring onions, thinly sliced
- 1tbsp roasted peanuts, crushed
- 1 small bunch coriander leaves
- 1 small bunch mint leaves
- 1 small bunch Thai basil leaves
- 1 batavia or romaine lettuce,leaves separated
No-fish sauce
- 20g piece dried kombu, rinsed
- 4 dried shiitake mushrooms,sliced
- 3tbsp brown miso paste
- 2tbsp light soy sauce
- 2tbsp cider vinegar
- 1tbsp fine sea salt
- sterilised glass bottle
Method
To make the batter, sift the rice flour, cornflour, turmeric and a pinch of salt into a large bowl and make a well in the middle. Whisk in the coconut milk, then gradually whisk in enough water (around 3tbsp) until you have a smooth, thin batter – it should just coat the back of the spoon and be roughly the consistency of single cream.
Cover the bowl with cling film and chill in the fridge for at least 2 hours, but preferably overnight if you have time. When you’re ready to cook the pancakes, put all the ingredients for the dipping sauce into a small bowl and stir until the sugar has dissolved. Prepare the herbs and other filling ingredients so that you can stuff the pancakes quickly.
Heat a splash of vegetable oil in a wok over a high heat until smoking. Add the onion and fry for a couple of minutes until lightly charred and beginning to soften. Add the mushrooms and fry, still over a high heat, for 5 minutes until caramelised; the idea here is to drive off as much moisture as possible to avoid soggy pancakes. Season with the soy sauce and cook for a couple of minutes until all the liquid in the pan has been absorbed.
Tip the mushrooms and onion onto a warmed plate in a single layer; if you pile them up, they will start to sweat. Heat a little more vegetable oil in a non-stick frying pan over a medium heat, give the batter a quick whisk and then pour in enough to coat the base of the pan in a thin layer. The pancake should quickly start to turn lacy, with tiny holes around the outer edge.
Continue to cook for around 1 minute until the surface of the batter is quite dry. Top with a handful of the mushroom and onion mixture and some beansprouts, then scatter over a little spring onion and a few roasted peanuts. Slide the pancake onto a warm plate. Repeat with the remaining batter and filling ingredients.
Serve the pancakes warm with the herbs and lettuce for stuffing and the sauce for dipping.
No-fish sauce
Using kitchen scissors, cut the kombu into thin strips and put in a stainless-steel saucepan. Add the remaining ingredients along with 500ml boiling water. Simmer for around 15 minutes until reduced by half. Remove from the heat, strain the liquid through a fine sieve into a jug and leave to cool. Transfer to a sterilised glass bottle, seal and store in the fridge for up to 4 weeks.
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