Thank you House Foods for sponsoring this post! Like many people, I once made the mistake of referring to banh xeo as that “Vietnamese omelette thing” because, well, it looks a lot like an omelette. It’s circular, yellow, stuffed with delicious surprises and folded over on itself. Except banh xeo aren’t actually made from eggs—the batter consists of rice flour, water and turmeric, which gives it the yellow color. Literally translated, banh xeo means “sizzling cake,” a reference to the delightful sizzling sound you hear as you pour the batter into the hot pan. Traditionally, banh xeo are filled with shrimp, pork, mung bean sprouts, scallions and sometimes steamed mung beans. Vegetarian versions are not easy to find, which is why I developed this vegan recipe. Instead of meat, I filled the banh xeo with pan-fried tofu cubes made with House Foods extra firm tofu. I love using their extra-firm tofu in general because it is quite firm right out the box, so I don’t need to press them for too long before frying them up. Because this banh xeo doesn’t contain shrimp or pork, I need to add other spices to give the crepes more flavor. In the batter, I mixed in garlic powder, ground coriander and porcini mushroom powder, which I made by grinding dried porcini mushrooms. I love using porcini mushrooms because it adds umami flavor to any dish. If they’re too much of a hassle to buy, go ahead and leave the powder out. Banh xeo are often served with nuoc cham, a dipping sauce made with fish sauce. I tried making a vegetarian version of nuoc cham, but I haven’t quite figured out a proper way to substitute the fish sauce (soy sauce isn’t quite right). Instead, I’m serving the banh xeo with a sweet chili sauce, which is adapted from my honey chili sauce recipe. These sizzling cakes are a bit time consuming to make, but they taste so good that the effort is all worth it!
MASTERING MY MISTAKES / COOKING NOTES
Use a nonstick skillet: Do yourself a favor and cook these on a good nonstick skillet (i.e., one that hasn’t been beaten and is starting to lose it’s nonstick coating). Because the batter is made out of rice, the banh xeo will want to stick to the pan. I tried cooking them in a cast iron skillet, and it was just bad news. It was so difficult to get one off the pan cleanly.Adding mung beans to the batter: I tried many different variations of the batter and the one that yielded consistently good results without the cake ripping apart were the ones where I added blended soaked mung beans with the batter. If mung beans aren’t readily available, feel free to leave them out. Don’t be alarmed when the crepes rip as you try to fold them over.The size of the skillet: For the banh xeo that you see in the photos, I’m using an 8-inch nonstick skillet. A 10-inch skillet will work fine, too. A 12-inch skillet makes banh xeo that are a little too big for me.
Disclosure: This post has been sponsored by House Foods. Thank you for supporting the brands that keep me inspired in the kitchen! To stay up to date with House Foods or to get recipe inspiration, visit their website or follow them on Facebook or Instagram!
