Vietnamese Crepe (Bánh Xèo)

Many years ago Hubby backpacked through a few countries in Indochina. One of the memories of the countries that remained with him was hawkers making and selling Bánh Xèo (Vietnamese Crepe) in the streets of Hué.

In Paris, the crepe could be found in most decent Vietnamese restaurants. I like the idea of a crepe made with coconut milk and turmeric, filled with prawns, roast pork, fresh herbs etc and then eaten wrapped in a salad leaf after being dipped in a spicy sweet and sour sauce...

I usually need only to taste something once or twice to ensuite have an idea on how to make it. It makes eating and cooking an interesting exercise of the senses AND the brains.

The Vietnamese Crepe is simple to make, but once one has gotten over the initial basic cooking, one has to go beyond and aim to further improve. This crepe is best eaten crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside and apparently it would require some extra knowledge to get it done right.

I have never been to Vietnam and do not think that I would be able to go there in the immediate future. So my journey had to be virtually done and I was fortunate to come across an article written by Viet World Kitchen on the subject. So the secret is to add a few Tbsps of cooked rice and mung beans into the batter as they would harden upon contact with the pan and provide the necessary crunchiness. Thank you very much, Andrea!

For the batter :

200g Rice Flour (either used ready-made or soak some raw rice in water and then grind it in a mixer)

2 Tbsps of cooked Rice

1 Tbsp of cooked Mung Beans

1 Tsp Ground Turmeric

200ml Coconut Milk

350ml Water

2 Tsps Sugar

For the filling :

Raw Prawns (peeled with tail left and sliced at the back)

Roast Pork (Char Siu)

Onion (they usually use yellow but I prefer red)

Bean Sprouts

Straw Mushrooms

Coriander Leaves

For the Dipping Sauce

Fish Sauce

Garlic (minced)

Lime Juice

Sugar

Rice Vinegar

Chillis

Garnishing :

Salad Leaves

Cucumber

Coriander Leaves

Thai Basilic Leaves

Mint Leaves

Laksa Leaves

I know that I am very bad with measurements. And the thing is that I don't usually follow recipes so I don't really have them on hand. I figure things out as I cook and make adjustments along the way. Don't believe that there is such a thing as perfect measures, anyway.

So I prepared the batter and put it aside for an hour or so. Then I prepared all the ingredients and had them ready on hand. Heated up my crepe pan with some oil, added in the onions, followed by the prawns, the char siu. They must cover half of the pan only. Then I poured in the batter, when it's half cooked, I added in the bean sprouts etc. When the crepe is cooked, I added in some oil on the circumference so that it gets an extra crisp and then, making a line in the middle of the crepe with the spatula, I folded the crepe into 2. Serve hot with the salad, cucumber, fresh herbs and the dip.

Hubby ate it up quickly and then declared, "It tasted just like the crepes in Vietnam, very good...but it was too much like the crepes in Vietnam, a bit stingy on the filling."

Well, he had the very first crepe and for some reason I was unconsciously rationing the ingredients at the beginning and in the end had lots of prawns etc leftover (made a crepe and egg omelette for lunch today).

I told him then that if he had told the hawker that he would like more prawns or pork they would surely be happy to add more and then just charge him a little extra for it. Guess what? He retorted that he wasn't as obsessed with the price as I am. What the hell has my remark got to do with price or an obsession about it? You really get the impression that as usual he wasn't listening or trying to, just looking for any occasion to spite me. When women are in a funny mood men say that we have PMS. I suspect that just as like us they have breasts, he's probably having PMS nowadays. Anyway, he knows that I'm not having anymore of this nonsense, so he's now coming home for lunch etc to try to win my favour again. Chérie here and Chérie there. Because when he is out of favour I wear my chastity belt to bed. Ha!

By the way, the Frigo Cantina arrived at last. He finally found a Liebherr 4126 for 168 bottles. Another beast to feed with electricity. But at least maybe the wines will be saved. It is a little too hot here where we are.