Sizzling Rice Flour Pancakes

Stuffed with chestnut mushrooms, beansprouts & herbs – BANH XEO –

VIETNAM / CAMBODIA

Though called pancakes, these are quite different creatures from the lemony, sugar-dusted French crêpes and the thick, fluffy American ones. This rice flour pancake is fragrant with coconut and coloured a glorious gold with turmeric. It is fried until crisp and deliciously greasy – which is why the Vietnamese like to tuck the pancakes into fresh lettuce leaves with lots of fresh herbs to lighten the snack. Banh xeo is usually filled with prawns and/or pork, beansprouts and spring onions, but you can play with this; I used chestnut mushrooms for this recipe. The pancake wedges with their vegetables and herbs make an extremely generous snack; but one of the best things about banh xeo is trying to stuff the whole package into your mouth at once without dripping nuoc cham.

Makes 4

• 100g rice flour
• 1 tablespoon cornflour
• a big pinch of turmeric
• a pinch of white pepper
• sea salt
• 200ml coconut milk
• 250g chestnut mushrooms
• 6 tablespoons groundnut or coconut oil
• 2 handfuls of beansprouts

To serve

• a bunch of fresh chives (about 30g)
• a handful of fresh Thai basil leaves
• a handful of fresh coriander
• 1 head of butter lettuce, leaves separated
• nuoc cham (see here)

1. Combine the rice flour, cornflour, turmeric, pepper and a big pinch of salt in a large bowl, then add the coconut milk and stir well to combine. Cover and set aside to rest for 30 minutes to an hour.
2. Meanwhile, slice the chestnut mushrooms and put into a wok or frying pan with a tablespoon of oil, over a medium-high heat. Make sure to spread the mushrooms out so that they properly sear instead of steam. Season with a pinch of salt, and fry, stirring once in a while, until browned and tender. Set aside.
3. Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a 20cm frying pan over a medium-high heat until smoking hot. Stir the batter again, then ladle a quarter of it into the pan (be careful of spattering), swirling to cover the base of the pan. Cook for about 4 minutes, until the edges begin to curl, then place a quarter of the mushrooms and beansprouts on one half of the pancake. Let cook for a minute more, until the underside is golden brown, then fold the pancake over in half.
4. Slide the folded pancake out on to a plate. Be careful, it’s very thin and delicate, and can tear easily. Repeat with the remaining batter, adding 1 tablespoon of oil to the pan and stirring the batter again before pouring it in each time.
5. I like to stuff the herbs into the pancake, then cut into smaller wedges to serve. You can also do this the other way round, cutting first, then letting people help themselves to the herbs. Tuck the pancake into a lettuce leaf and dip in nuoc cham to eat.