June 10, 2020

Vegetarian Bánh Xèo (Vietnamese Rice Flour Crepes)

If dinner is getting a little dull, and you want to spice it up a little, give these vegetarian Bánh Xèo a try! These Vietnamese rice flour crepes are made with a simple rice flour batter, and stuffed with mung beans, tofu, shiitake mushrooms, bean sprouts, and onions, and eaten with fresh herbs and greens. The final bit is a homemade dipping sauce that really brings the entire dish together. Experiment with the fillings as you like, as these turmeric tinted pancakes will be a fast dinner time favorite.

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All About Bánh Xèo

Bánh Xèo are crispy, delicate savory pancakes, that are stuffed and served with greens and dipping sauce. The words “Bánh Xèo” literally translates to “cake sound”, describing the sizzling noise of the rice flour on the hot pan. It is most often stuffed with pork and shrimp, although the mung beans we used here are also a traditional filling. In Vietnam, these rice flour crepes are often street food, but they also make a fantastic family meal. You can switch up the fillings to suit everyone’s tastes, plus it’s traditionally eaten with your hands, which I think makes any meal a little more family-fun friendly!

How to Eat Rice Flour Crepes

These rice flour crepes are not only stuffed with fillings (in this case we used shiitake mushrooms, onions, tofu, mung beans, and bean sprouts), but they’re also generally wrapped in even more. Fresh herbs, leafy lettuce, and then dipped into a dipping sauce. The traditional dipping sauce is called nuoc cham, which is so ubiquitous in Veitnam that it’s typically just known as “dipping sauce”. The basic components of nuoc cham are water, fish sauce, citrus, and sugar. If you don’t have a vegan fish sauce (we make ours, but you can also buy it) you could try using soy sauce instead. We also added a little garlic, which along with fresh chilies are sometimes added in. It’s very important that you taste the sauce once you’re done, and make sure you like the balance of sweet/salty/sour. Adjust the flavors until you love the taste.

To get the perfect bite of your vegetarian Bánh Xèo, use a large lettuce leaf as the base. Throw in some herbs (we used mint and cilantro, but Thai basil and other fresh herbs are also delightful), and add a chunk of your crepe. Wrap it all up, and dunk into your dipping sauce. And repeat! Experiment with different herbs and leafy greens, or just eat the crepe on its own. The choice is all up to you.

Looking for Southeast Asian inspired recipes? Try one of these!

Making Vegetarian Bánh Xèo (Vietnamese Rice Flour Crepes)

There are a lot of parts to these vegetarian Bánh Xèo, but none of them are too difficult. It’s just about putting all the little pieces together. I like to start with the mung beans, as they take the longest to cook- although once they’re soaked, it’s still only 15 minutes. I got out my steamer and steamed mine- it’s easier to get them to the perfect point of cooked but not soggy that way. Then mix your batter- it should be a fairly liquid batter. Let that sit while you chop and prepare the fillings, and mix up your dipping sauce. Then it’s time for the main event- making rice flour crepes! Frist things first, the mushrooms and onions benefit from cooking so they get sautéed, and then pushed to one side of the pan. Pour the rice flour batter over it, and let it cook at a medium-high heat. While it’s cooking, top it off with your mung beans, tofu, and bean sprouts. Then, just like cooking an omelet, flip it in half to sandwich all your fillings, cook for a minute more, and serve. Eat them while they’re hot!

Vegetarian Bánh Xèo (Vietnamese Rice Flour Crepes)

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 40 minutes

Yield: 5 Crepes

Vegetarian Bánh Xèo (Vietnamese Rice Flour Crepes)

Ingredients

½ cup whole mung beans, soaked 12 hours
1 cup rice flour
2 tbsp. nutritional yeast
1 tsp. turmeric
½ tsp. salt
¼ cup full fat coconut milk
¼ small onion
4 oz. shiitake mushrooms
4 oz. extra firm tofu
1 tsp. sugar
1 lime, juiced
2 tbsp. vegan fish sauce
1 clove garlic, finely minced
Bean sprouts
Fresh mint leaves
Cilantro
Large, leafy greens (like leafy lettuce or mustard greens)

Instructions

In advance of making this recipe, make sure to soak your mung beans for 12 hours. Next, prepare a steamer and steam the soaked mung beans for 15 minutes, or until they are cooked through but not mushy. Once cooked, set aside.
While the mung beans steam, prepare the batter by whisking together the rice flour, salt, nutritional yeast and turmeric. Next add the coconut milk, along with 1¼ cups of water. Whisk until smooth, and set aside.
Prepare the fillings- thinly slice the onion, and chop the mushrooms into small pieces. Cut the tofu into small strips. Also prepare the dipping sauce by combining the sugar, lime juice, vegan fish sauce, garlic clove, and 2 tbsp. water and mixing well.
Finally, make your banh xeo. Add some neutral flavored oil to a 9-inch skillet on medium-high heat. Once hot, add about 1/5 of your onions and mushrooms, sautéing them for a few minutes to release their moisture. Then push the onions and mushrooms over to one half of the pan, and pour ½ cup of the batter into the pan, tilting it as needed so that the batter covers the entire pan. Let cook for a minute, then sprinkle a tablespoon or so of the mung beans onto the half of the pancake that contains the mushrooms and onions. On top of that, add 1/5 of your tofu, and a few bean sprouts. Let cook for another minute, before flipping the empty half of the crepe over to cover the bean sprouts, mung beans, and tofu. Cook for 30 seconds more, then slide out of the pan onto a plate.
Enjoy immediately. Banh xeo are often eaten in a lettuce wrap, with fresh mint and cilantro, dipped in the dipping sauce we made earlier.

https://veryveganval.com/2020/06/10/vegetarian-banh-xeo-vietnamese-rice-flour-crepes/

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