A lot of my food isn’t really know for its cultural authenticity. I’ll take inspiration from the original sure, but very rarely does it stay true to that original recipe, and so it is here. A quick look around at your typical Banh Xeo filling will tell you that prawns and pork typically make the cut, make it vegetables only and the general consensus seems to be that this is fit for a very light lunch or a starter only but I think we can fix that.
The filling for my pancakes is a salad of rice noodles, thinly sliced vegetables, some pickled vegetables, add in some aubergines that are tossed in spices and shallow fried till crunchy on the outside and even your most ardent carnivore friend won’t notice the meat is missing. Finished with a dipping sauce that is laced with chillies and garlic, tangy with vinegar, coriander, and sesame oil. This makes a meal that is both light yet filling and perfect for the emerging summer weather. If you want to make this a light lunch then i’d suggest leaving out the noodles.
Don’t let the long list of ingredients scare you on this one – its easy and tasty! The only part of this that’s going to take some time is the pancakes themselves so plan accordingly, I’ve been known to whip up the batter the night before or in a spare 5 minutes so it has time to rest, and cook them over a conference call as they don’t need a lot of attention. Plan yours accordingly so it fits in with your day.
- Makes: Serves 4
Ingredients
Pancake Batter
- 200g Rice Flour
- 1 1/2 tbsp Cornflour
- 250ml Vegetable Stock (with extra if needed)
- 250ml Coconut Milk (tinned)
- 2tsp Tumeric
- Salt, to taste (Optional - this depends how much salt is in your stock)
- Oil, for frying
Rice Noodle Salad
- Rice Vermicelli Noodles, 3 sheets
- handful of beansprouts
- 3 Spring Onions, thinly sliced
- 2 Peppers, julienned (I like to mix my colours and go for one red and one yellow)
- 1 Carrot, julienned
- 1/4 of a Red Cabbage, thinly sliced
- Stir fry veg of your choice (I like a mixed of sugar snap peas, baby corn, and asparagus depending on what's available)
- 30g Peanuts, roughly chopped
- 1/4 cup Fresh Coriander, roughly chopped
- 1/4 cup Fresh Mint, roughly chopped
Aubergines
- 2 Aubergines, Sliced
- 1/2 cup Cornfllour
- 2 tsp Cumin
- 1 tsp Coriander
- 1 tsp Paprika, (plus more for garnish)
- 1/2 tsp Tumeric
- Salt & Pepper
Dipping Sauce
- 3 large Garlic Cloves, finely diced
- 4 tbsp Rice Vinegar
- 2 tbsp Soy Sauce (I substitute this - see the allergy note below)
- 1 1/12 tbsp Brown Sugar
- 1 Large red Chilli, deseeded & finely chopped
- 1/4 Cup Coriander, finely chopped
- 2 tsp Sesame Oil
- Zest of 1 lime
Directions
The batter for the pancakes is best having rested for at least half an hour, if not several hours, so lets start there. Whisk together the dry ingredients so that they’re well combined then add the stock and coconut milk. Mix well so that you have a smooth batter, similar to single cream in texture. Put your batter in the fridge to rest.
Mix together the dipping sauce ingredients and leave the flavours the get to know each other in the fridge while you grow the rest of your dish.
Slice your aubergine slices about half a centimetre thick. Lay them down on a kitchen towel or paper towel and lightly salt them to draw out the moisture. After a good 10 minutes or so, dab off the moisture that the salt has brought to the surface, flip the slices and repeat. Mix together the cornflour, spices and a touch of salt and pepper to make up a coating for your aubergines and toss all your slices evenly. Shallow fry your aubergine slices till evenly brown on both sides, seasoning well with paprika and the salt and pepper as they come out of the oil.
Bring your batter out of the fridge about 15 mins before you’re due to use it. It’s best if you let it come back u to room temperature before cooking as cold coconut can overly thicken the batter. Just before cooking check the batter and add extra stock if needed, remember you want it to be similar in consistency to single cream.
I like to use a small, 8 inch frying pan to cook the pancakes – it makes perfect, almost taco sized pockets. Warm up your frying pan with a teaspoon of oil on a medium to high heat. When the pan is hot enough to almost shimmer, quickly lift the pan from the hob, add about a quarter cup of batter and swirl it evenly around the pan. Place back on the heat and cook on both sides for 2 minutes. When cooked, gently fold in half and place on your serving plate. I like to place them in a warm oven to keep warm and crispy while I finish cooking the entire batch.
While cooking your pancakes, now is the ideal time to tie together your rice salad. The rice noodles I tend to get only need soaking for 3 minutes but check your noodle’s instructions, water will do for this but stock will add a little bit more depth if possible. Stir fry your vegetables of choice and toss all your salad ingredients together.
This dinner works best served family style, letting everyone serve themselves, stuffing the pancakes with the salad, topping with the fried aubergine slices and drizzling or dipping with the sauce as wanted. Free to also have some sriracha or sweet chilli sauce to one side, enjoy!
Notes
I like to add quick pickled cucumbers to the toppings and I know others love using other pickled veg too – if you’d like my pickled cucumber recipe then let me know!
Allergy Notes: This recipe is mostly allergy friendly but its important to note that Soy Sauce is NOT gluten free as the brewing process contains wheat. A good gluten free option is Tamari which normally contains little to no gluten, is slightly less salty, and thicker than soy sauce. As always, check your brand to make sure you’ve not accidentally picked up one of the free brands which uses it. We use coconut aminos in our house, while not quite as rich as soy sauce it’s both gluten free and soy free but different brands vary tremendously – you may have to look around before finding one that suits you.
If nuts are an allergin for you then skip the peanuts and swap out the sesame oil for either avocado oil or rapeseed oil. They’re both quite neutral tasting oils so it won’t have the same depth but it’ll still be tasty!
