Mushroom and ginger banh xeo. Photo / Olivia Moore - That Green Olive.
Banh xeo holds a warm fuzzy place in my mind; it was the last dish I had in Vietnam four years ago.
When reading the menu, the option for a crispy pancake filled with various types of mushrooms was very appealing, for obvious reasons.
When the plate arrived I was overjoyed - the pancake was ginormous, but super thin and crispy, so it was not overly filling. The mushroom filling was abundant, with countless types of mushrooms - straw, oyster, king oyster, shiitake, enoki - mushrooms that up until that point I’d never tried in New Zealand; thankfully they are slightly easier to find now.
The crepe had bits of prawn and shallot cooked into the batter, which added a unique bite and flavour. I was over the moon to try such an exciting dish. The banh xeo was also served with nuoc mam cham, a simple dressing of rice wine vinegar, fish sauce, chilli, garlic and sugar.
This is my version of banh xeo. What mushrooms you use is up to you. I used a mixture of oyster, lion’s mane and white button. Shiitake and enoki mushrooms would also be great.
The crepe itself requires only a few ingredients and is very simple to make. Make sure your pan is nice and hot when you cook the crepes, to enable them to crisp up and cook properly. Once the batter is in the pan, the crepes don’t take long to come together!
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Makes 8
● 125g rice flour
● 40g flour
● 2 tsp ground turmeric
● 200ml coconut milk (from a can)
● 1/2 tsp salt
● 100g prawns, tails removed and halved lengthwise
● 1 small shallot, thinly sliced
● 1 shallot, thinly sliced
● 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
● 10g fresh peeled ginger, finely chopped
● 600g assorted mushrooms, roughly chopped
● Juice of ½ lime
● ½ tsp salt
● 200g mung bean sprouts
1. In a large bowl, whisk together dry ingredients to combine. Add coconut milk along with 1 ½ cups water, and whisk until smooth. Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight.
2. When ready to assemble, prepare the mushrooms. Heat a generous drizzle of oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Add shallot, garlic and ginger, and cook for 3-4 minutes until fragrant. Add mushrooms and cook for 7-10 minutes, stirring frequently, until mushrooms have released their juices and have nicely browned. Add lime juice and salt, and toss to combine. Keep warm while you cook the crepes.
3. To cook the crepes, heat 1 tsp oil in a large non-stick frying pan over high heat. Add a few slices of shallot and a few prawn halves. Cook for 30 seconds, until just beginning to brown. Briefly stir the batter, then pour in about ½ cup, immediately swirling the pan as you pour, to create a thin and even crepe. Drizzle a little oil around the edges of the crepe; this helps it to crisp up and makes it easier to remove.
4. Place ⅛ of the mushroom mixture on one half of the crepe, and top with ⅛ of the mung bean sprouts. Cook for 2-3 minutes, until the crepe is crisp and browned underneath. Gently slide a spatula underneath the empty half, and fold over the filling. Gently slide the crepe onto a plate. Keep warm while you cook the rest.
5. Repeat steps 3-4 with the remaining batter, mushroom filling and bean sprouts.
6. Serve hot, with nuoc mam or your favourite dipping sauces.
Olivia Moore and her Taupō business That Green Olive offer recipe development, food photography - in studio or on-location - for restaurants and cafes, recipe video creation and social media content creation.