This vegetarian version of the Vietnamese pancake takes a little extra time to prep, but it also is complex in flavor and deeply fulfilling in taste. This recipe comes from Plenty, a great cookbook by Yotam Ottolenghi, that was a holiday gift from Book Larder in Fremont. (If you’re in Seattle, be sure to visit and support this community cookbook store. It’s full of beautiful and inspiring cookbooks.)
Make the Pancakes In a large bowl, mix 1 1/3 cups rice flour, a small egg, a pinch of salt and a tsp turmeric. Slowly pour in 1 3/4 cups coconut milk, whisking as you go. Set aside.
Prepare the Filling Shred 1 large carrot and 1 daikon radish. Slice 4 green onions. Cut 1 green chile and 1 1/2 cups snow peas into long ribbons. Also prepare 1 cup loosely packed cilantro leaves, 2/3 cup loosely packed Thai basil leaves, 1/4 cup loosely packed mint leaves, a cup of mung bean sprouts and a cup of enoki (or other fun, small) mushrooms.
Make the sauce Whisk together 2 1/2 tsp lime juice, 1 1/2 tbsp toasted sesame oil, 1 tbsp brown sugar, 1 tbsp rice wine vinegar, 1 tbsp sweet soy sauce, 2 tsp fresh grated ginger, a fresh red chile (chopped), a garlic clove (crushed), and a pinch of salt.
Heat a 9″ frying pan over medium heat and add sesame, sunflower or vegetable oil. Add 1/4 of the batter (approximately) and swirl it around to cover the bottom of the pan. When the first side is golden brown, flip the pancake and cook the other side. Keep the pancakes warm while you cook up the rest of the batter.
To plate the Banh Xeo, put a pancake on a dish, pile half of it with vegetables and herbs, drizzle the sauce over the top, and fold. Drizzle more sauce on the closed pancake, and serve the rest of the sauce on the side. Amazing!
Ingredients
- Pancakes
- 1 1/3 cups rice flour
- 1 egg
- pinch salt
- 1 tsp turmeric
- 1 3/4 cups coconut milk
- sunflower, sesame, or vegetable oil
- Sauce
- 2 1/2 tbsp lime juice
- 1 1/2 tbsp toasted sesame oil
- 1 tbsp brown sugar
- 1 tbsp rice wine vinegar
- 1 tbsp sweet soy sauce
- 2 tsp grated ginger
- 1 fresh red chile, chopped finely
- 1 clove crushed garlic
- pinch salt
- Filling
- 1 large peeled carrot
- 1 peeled daikon radish
- 4 green onions
- 1 fresh green chili
- 1 1/2 cups snow peas
- 1 cup loosely packed cilantro leaves
- 2/3 cup Thai basil
- 2/3 cup loosely packed mint leaves
- 1 cup mung bean sprouts
- 1 cup enoki mushrooms
Related articles
- Pad Siew – Thai Noodles for Dinner (seattlefoodshed.wordpress.com)
- Road Trip Down the Vietnamese Coast. – Hanoi,, Vietnam (travelpod.com)
- Bibimbap (Korean Rice Bowl with Vegetables and Beef) Recipe (thedailymeal.com)
Seattle Foodshed 
That sounds good!
It was!
Hi! How many pancakes + fillings does this recipe make please?
It ‘serves four’ which means it makes four pancakes and enough filling to fill them. We ate two pancakes each tho, because they were INSANELY DELICIOUS and we would have eaten more if there had been more.
If you’re making it for more than two people, and it’s the main dish, you may want to consider making the pancake batch twice.
Thanks! When I came to try the recipe (and before I saw your comment) I saw that it would make four pancakes – so sorry! You are right – it’s SO AMAZING that I’ve made it three times already – everyone I’ve served it to has loved it! I’d love to feature it on my blog with a link back to yours if that’s ok? ~ Georgina
That’s so great you love it! It has such unique flavors, doesn’t it? We’d be delighted to feature it on your blog, and thanks so much!
EPIC FAIL> pancake was too thick, didn’t flip.. was tasteless and not the yummy crunchy pancakes i get at local restuarants.. filling was good… what went wrong???
This is simply an Americanized copy of Yotam Ottolenghi’s recipe. He should really be credited here.
Did you read the second sentence? 🙂