Best 4 Vietnamese Sizzling Crepes Recipes

BANH XEO (VIETNAMESE CREPES)

Steps:

• Mix rice flour, sugar, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and turmeric together in a large bowl. Beat in coconut milk to make a thick batter. Slowly beat in water until batter is the consistency of a thin crepe batter.
• Heat 1 1/2 tablespoon oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add shallot and garlic; cook and stir until fragrant but not browning, 1 to 2 minutes. Add shrimp; saute until cooked through and opaque, 3 to 4 minutes. Season with fish sauce and salt. Transfer filling to a bowl.
• Preheat oven to 200 degrees F (95 degrees C).
• Wipe out skillet and reheat over medium heat. Add remaining 1 1/2 teaspoon oil. Stir crepe batter and pour 1/2 cup into the hot skillet, swirling to coat the bottom. Lay 3 or 4 of the cooked shrimp on the bottom half of the crepe. Top with a small handful of bean sprouts. Cook until batter looks set and edges start to brown, about 1 minute. Fold crepe over and slide onto an oven-safe plate.
• Place crepe in the preheated oven to keep warm. Repeat with remaining batter and filling.
• Serve lettuce leaves alongside filled crepes. Break off pieces of crepe and roll up in lettuce leaves to eat.

SIZZLING SAIGON CREPES

Steps:

• Make the batter: place the rice flour, coconut milk, water, turmeric, sugar, salt, curry powder and scallions in a bowl and stir well to blend. Set aside.
• Make the filling: Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a large nonstick skillet over high heat. Add 1/4 each of the onion, the pork and the shrimp and stir until fragrant, about 15 seconds. Whisk the batter well, and ladle about 2/3 cup into the pan. Swirl so the batter completely covers the surface. Neatly pile about 1 cup bean sprouts and 1/2 cup mushrooms on one side of the crepe, closer to the center than to the edge. Reduce the heat slightly, cover the pan and cook until the edges pull away from the sides of the pan, about 5 minutes. Reduce the heat to low. Uncover and cook until the crepe is crisp and the pork and shrimp are done, another 2 to 3 minutes. Slip a spatula under the crepe to check on the bottom of the crepe. If it?s not brown, cook for another 1 to 2 minutes.
• Lift the side of the crepe without the bean sprouts and mushrooms and fold it over the covered side of the crepe. Using a spatula, gently slide the crepe onto a large plate. Wipe the pan clean and make the remaining crepes in the same way. Be sure to oil the pan before beginning the next crepe.
• To serve, place the crepes, Vietnamese Dipping Sauce and some lettuces, mustard leaves, and herbs on the table. To eat, tear a piece of the banh xeo and wrap the lettuce or mustard leaves and herbs. Roll into a packet, then dip into the sauce and eat.
• Cut the chiles into thin rings. Remove one-third of the chiles and set aside for garnish. Place the remaining chiles, garlic, and sugar into a mortar and pound into a coarse, wet paste. Transfer to a small bowl and add the water, lime juice, and fish sauce. Stir well to dissolve. Add the reserved chiles and carrots. Set aside for 10 minutes before serving.

SIZZLING CREPES

Steps:

• To make the batter, put the raw rice in a bowl and add water to cover by 1 inch. Let soak for 3 to 4 hours.
• Drain the rice and transfer to a blender. Add the cooked rice, mung bean, salt, turmeric, coconut milk, and water. Blend for about 3 minutes, or until very smooth and lemony yellow. Pour the batter through a fine-mesh sieve positioned over a bowl and discard the solids. Stir in the scallion and set the batter aside for 1 hour. It will thicken to the consistency of heavy cream. There should be about 3 cups batter.
• To make the filling, roughly divide the pork, shrimp, mushrooms, and onion into 8 portions. (Dividing the ingredients now will ensure less frantic frying and avoid overstuffing.) Put these ingredients along with the mung bean, bean sprouts, batter, and oil next to the stove.
• For each crepe, heat 2 teaspoons of the oil in a 10-inch nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add a portion each of the pork, shrimp, mushrooms, and onion and sauté, breaking up the meat, for about 45 seconds, or until seared and aromatic. Visualize a line down the middle of the skillet and roughly arrange the ingredients on either side of the line. Anything in the middle would make it hard to fold the crepe neatly later.
• Because the rice will have settled at the bottom of the bowl, give the batter a good stir with a ladle. Pour 1/3 cup of the batter into the skillet and swirl the skillet to cover the bottom; a bit going up the side forms a lovely lacy edge. The batter should dramatically sizzle (making that xèo noise!) and bubble. When it settles down, sprinkle on 1 1/2 tablespoons of the mung bean, and then pile 1/2 cup of the bean sprouts on one side. Lower the heat to medium, cover, and cook until the bean sprouts have wilted slightly, about 3 minutes.
• Remove the lid and drizzle in 1 teaspoon of the oil around the rim of the pan. Lower the heat slightly and continue to cook, uncovered, for 3 to 4 minutes to crisp the crepe. The edge will have pulled away from the skillet and turned golden brown. At this point, use a spatula to check underneath for a crispy bottom. From the center to the edge, the crepe should go from being soft to crispy. Lower the heat if you need to cook it longer. When you are satisfied, use a spatula to fold the half without the bean sprouts over the other half. Use the spatula to transfer the crepe to a serving dish, or simply slide it out of the pan onto the dish. Increase the heat to medium-high and repeat with the remaining batter and filling ingredients to make 8 crepes in all. Use any left over batter to make a poor man's crepe without filling. When you are comfortable with the technique, you can try frying the crepes in 2 skillets at the same time. These crepes taste best straight from the skillet, so have diners at the ready.
• Serve the crepes with the vegetable garnish plate and dipping sauce. Pass around 1 or 2 pairs of kitchen scissors for diners to cut their crepes into manageably sized pieces. To eat, tear a piece of lettuce roughly the size of your palm, place a piece of the crepe on it, add cucumber slices and a few herb leaves, shape into a bundle, and dunk into the dipping sauce.
• To prepare a shortcut rice flour batter, in a bowl, stir together 2 cups rice flour, 1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch, 3/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric. Make a well in the center, pour in 1/3 cup coconut milk and 2 cups water, and whisk to create a silky batter. Add 1 scallion (white and green parts), thinly sliced, and set aside for 1 hour. Cook this batter in the same way.
• For these crepes and the ones on page 277, buy a pork shoulder steak, debone it, and slice the meat. You do not need to invest in a whole roast.

VIETNAMESE SIZZLING CREPES

Steps:

• 1. For the batter: In a bowl, whisk together rice flour, cornstarch, turmeric, salt, coconut milk and water. Keep green onions at the ready, do not add yet.
• 2. For the sauce: Mix all sauce ingredients together, adjust taste to your liking; set aside.
• 3. For the filling: In a non-stick skillet over medium-high heat, heat oil then add onions. (I advise using ONLY a non-stick skillet for this recipe.) Saute for 2-3 minutes until onions lose their rawness but are still crisp. Remove to a plate.
• 4. To the same pan, add shallot, add some oil and saute until fragrant, then add pork and allow it to cook, undisturbed for about a minute. Then add fish sauce and pepper and cook until pork is completely cooked. Remove to a clean plate.
• 5. To the same pan with a coating of oil, and still at medium-high heat, add shrimp and saute both sides until fully cooked. This will only take a couple minutes depending on the size of your shrimp. Remove to a clean plate. If your shrimp are large, cut in half lengthwise.
• 6. For the Crepes: Add the chopped green onions to the batter and stir well. Wipe the pan clean, place over medium to medium-high heat, and add oil to coat the pan. If you are using a 12-inch skillet, once it is hot, pour 1/3 of the batter into it and swirl until the bottom of the pan is covered. The batter should sizzle when you pour it in the pan. If you use a smaller or a larger pan, adjust the amount of batter. Use just enough to coat the bottom of the pan. (Rice flour has a tendency to sink to the bottom of the bowl, so remember to stir the batter before making your crepes.)
• 7. When the bottom of the crepe seems like it's about to start getting crispy, (lift the edge with a spatula to check), add 1/2 cup bean sprouts to one half of the crepe. Let it cook for about 30 more seconds and begin layering the other ingredients, 1/3 of the onion, 1/3 pork, and 1/3 shrimp, to the same side as the bean sprouts, leaving the other half free.
• 8. Continue to cook for 2-3 (or more) minutes until the crepe becomes crispy. I you feel it needs more oil, drizzle some around the rim of the pan. Also make sure it is not getting too dark by keeping the heat adjusted. The important thing to remember is you need to give the crepe time to become crispy.
• 9. When the crepe is as crispy as you want it, fold the half without the filling over the other half. Slide it from the pan onto a plate or use 2 spatulas to maneuver it onto a plate.
• 10. Continue with the other 2 crepes, wiping the skillet clean between crepes, remembering to stir the batter before pouring it into the pan.
• 11. Serve the crepes hot with herbs, lettuce and dipping sauce.