Bánh xèo
Southern Vietnamese crisp rice-flour crêpes, yellow with turmeric and rich with coconut milk, filled with pork, prawns and bean sprouts and eaten wrapped in lettuce with nước chấm.
Recipe by I Want Some Food · Reviewed by the editorial kitchen.
- Prep
- 40 min
- Cook
- 1 hr
- Rest
- 30 min
- Total
- 2 hr 10 min
- Difficulty
- Medium
- Spice
- Mild
- Cost
- Weeknight budget$8–16 USD · indicative, not a store price
About
Bánh xèo is named for the sizzle the batter makes when it hits the pan. The batter is rice flour, turmeric, coconut milk and water, thin as cream, poured over a little pork, prawn and onion already frying, swirled up the sides and covered for a couple of minutes with bean sprouts and mung beans on top. Then the lid comes off, oil goes round the edge, and it fries until the underside is lacy and crackling. Fold it, cut it, wrap pieces in lettuce with mint and perilla, and dip them in nước chấm. The first one is always a test: adjust the heat and carry on.
What you'll need
24 ingredients. Tap each one once it's out on the bench.
- Batter
- Filling
- To serve
- Nước chấm
Ingredients
Batter
- Rice flour, plain, not glutinous200 g
- Potato or corn starch, for crispness30 g
- Turmeric, ground4.9 ml
- Coconut milk200 ml
- Water, cold350 ml
- Salt2½ ml
- Spring onion, thinly sliced3
Filling
- Pork, belly or shoulder, sliced very thin250 g
- Prawn, small, peeled250 g
- Onion, thinly sliced1 medium
- Mung beans, split and peeled, soaked at least 30 minutes80 g
- Bean sprouts300 g
- Fish sauce, for the pork and prawns15 ml
- Black pepper2½ ml
- Neutral oil, for frying: about 1 tbsp per pancake, plus a drizzle round the edge150 ml
To serve
- Lettuce, a soft head, leaves separated1
- Mint1 bunch
- Mixed herbs, perilla, Vietnamese balm or fish mint, as you can find1 bunch
Nước chấm
- Fish sauce44 ml
- Sugar44 ml
- Lime, juiced2
- Garlic, minced2 clove
- Fresh chilli, bird's eye, sliced1
- Water, warm150 ml
Scaling multiplies the written quantities. Baking still prefers a scale.
Steps
Step 1
Whisk the rice flour, cornflour, turmeric and salt with the coconut milk and water until smooth. Stir in the spring onion and rest for at least 30 minutes, or overnight in the fridge. It should be as thin as single cream; add a splash of water if it is not.
35 min
Step 2
For the nước chấm, stir the sugar into the warm water until it dissolves, then add the fish sauce, lime juice, garlic and chilli. Taste it: sour, sweet and salty should balance, with heat behind.
5 min
Step 3
Drain the mung beans and simmer them in fresh water for 10 to 15 minutes, until soft but still whole, then drain. Toss the pork and prawns with the fish sauce and pepper. Put the onion, mung beans and bean sprouts by the stove with a lid that fits your pan.
20 min
Step 4
Heat a 25 to 30 cm non-stick frying pan over medium-high heat with 1 tbsp oil. Fry a few slices of pork, a few prawns and some onion for 1 to 2 minutes. Stir the batter, pour in about 100 ml and swirl the pan at once so it coats the base and creeps up the sides. It should hiss loudly.
3 min
Tip: If it does not sizzle, the pan is not hot enough. If it sets before you can swirl, it is too hot.
Step 5
Scatter a spoon of mung beans and a handful of bean sprouts over one half, cover and cook for 2 minutes. Uncover, drizzle a little oil around the edge, lower the heat a notch and cook 3 to 4 minutes more, until the underside is deep gold and crisp and the edges lift away.
6 min
Step 6
Fold it in half, slide it onto a plate and serve at once while you start the next one; the batter makes about 8. To eat, cut off a piece, wrap it in lettuce with mint and the other herbs and dip it in the nước chấm.
2 min
Nutrition
Per serving · estimate
- Calories
- 851 kcal
- Protein
- 41.9 g
- Carbs
- 51.9 g
- Fat
- 55 g
- Saturated fat
- 16.2 g
- Fibre
- 7.9 g
- Sugar
- 17.7 g
- Sodium
- 2095 mg
Calculated from canonical ingredient data (USDA FoodData Central averages and equivalent published tables). Estimates only.
Allergens
Informational only. Not a medical guarantee. Cross-contamination happens in real kitchens.
- Fish
- Shellfish
- Soy
- Dairy-free
- Gluten-free
Adapt this recipe
The original recipe stays as it is. Personal versions are labelled. Serving changes are simple maths.
Adaptations · 0 / 15 used. Resets 13 November.
Substitutions
Pork and prawns → Oyster mushrooms and firm tofu
Use soy sauce in place of fish sauce in the filling and the dip for a vegetarian bánh xèo.
Split mung beans → More bean sprouts
Mung beans add body and a nutty taste, but plenty of home cooks leave them out.
Tips
- Stir the batter before every pancake. Rice flour sinks to the bottom of the bowl.
- A carbon-steel or well-seasoned pan crisps better than a worn non-stick one. Whatever you use, keep it hot.
- If the first ones come out soft, add a spoon more cornflour or a splash of beer to the batter.
History & culture
In the south bánh xèo is a rainy-season and weekend dish, cooked by street vendors on rows of hot pans and at home for a crowd, one pancake at a time while everyone eats. Southern ones are big and thin. In central Vietnam they are smaller and thicker, made in little cast-iron pans, and in Huế they are called bánh khoái.
Rice-flour pancakes are old across the Mekong and the central coast, and Cambodia's banh chao is a close cousin. The coconut milk and turmeric mark the southern version as a Mekong Delta dish, where both are everyday ingredients. It became a Saigon street staple in the 20th century and travelled with the diaspora after 1975.
Traditional — Street vendors in the south use wider pans, more oil and fierce heat. Perilla and fish mint are standard on the herb plate; use whichever Vietnamese herbs you can find.
Provenance: Editorial adaptation.
Questions about this recipe
Answers taken from this dish's times, amounts, swaps and tips.
How long does Bánh xèo take?
2 hr 10 min all in — 40 min prep, 1 hr cook, 30 min rest. Cook and rest follow the method. Leftover storage and optional extra waits are not included.
How many does it serve?
The recipe is written for 4 people. Scale the ingredient list on the page if you are cooking for a different number.
How hard is it?
Medium.
How spicy is it?
Mild.
What allergens should I watch?
This recipe is labelled for Fish, Shellfish, Soy. Labels are informational — check the packets in your kitchen. This is not medical advice.
Does it fit a diet?
The published recipe is labelled Dairy-free, Gluten-free.
10 more questionsFewer questions
What does it cost to cook?
Weeknight budget — about $8–16 USD, as a grocery budget for this recipe, not a restaurant price.
What equipment do I need?
Frying pan, Saucepan, Mixing bowl, Chef's knife, Cutting board.
How much salt do I put in?
The recipe lists Salt at ½ tsp.
How much fish sauce?
1 tbsp (for the pork and prawns) of Fish sauce.
How much fish sauce?
3 tbsp of Fish sauce.
How much sugar?
3 tbsp of Sugar.
What can I use instead?
Pork and prawns → Oyster mushrooms and firm tofu. Use soy sauce in place of fish sauce in the filling and the dip for a vegetarian bánh xèo. Split mung beans → More bean sprouts. Mung beans add body and a nutty taste, but plenty of home cooks leave them out.
Any tips from this recipe?
Stir the batter before every pancake. Rice flour sinks to the bottom of the bowl. A carbon-steel or well-seasoned pan crisps better than a worn non-stick one. Whatever you use, keep it hot. If the first ones come out soft, add a spoon more cornflour or a splash of beer to the batter.
Can I prepare this ahead?
Whisk the rice flour, cornflour, turmeric and salt with the coconut milk and water until smooth. Stir in the spring onion and rest for at least 30 minutes, or overnight in the fridge. It should be as thin as single cream; add a splash of water if it is not.
Can I use an air fryer?
This method is not written for an air fryer. The core technique on the page still applies.
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