Crispy Crepe

Crispy Crepe

INGREDIENTS :

Crepe Batter 

• 1 cup rice flour (we used Bob's Red Mill) 

• 1-2 teaspoons ground turmeric 

• 2 1/2 cups sparkling water 

• 3/4 cup coconut milk 

• 1/4 cup beer (optional, but recommended... otherwise use more sparkling water) 

• 1 teaspoon salt 

• 2 stalks of scallions, sliced thinly

Crepe Filling 

• 1/2 cup mushrooms, sliced thinly 

• 1 red bell pepper, julienned 

• 1/2 cup kale, de-stalked and chopped 

• 1 1/2 tablespoons garlic, minced 

• 1/2 cup shallots, diced 

• 1 tablespoon coconut or olive oil 

Nuoc Cham Sauce (Optional) 

• 1 tablespoon fish sauce 

• 1 tablespoon honey 

• 5 tablespoons water 

• 1 tablespoon lime juice 

• 1 red chili pepper, finely chopped 

• 1 clove of garlic, minced

Side Garnishes (Optional) 

• Fresh basil 

• Fresh mint 

• Fresh parsley 

• Fresh cilantro 

• Lettuce

How to Make :

Stage 1: Create the Batter 

1. Start by adding your rice flour, salt and turmeric into a mixing bowl 

2. Next, add in your sparkling water, coconut milk and beer (if you choose to use it) into the mixing bowl. Whisk your batter together until you have a nice, runny batter (no clumps of flour) 

3. Let the batter sit for at least 30 minutes. During this time, you can work on preparing the filling and sauce

Stage 2: Prepare Filling and Sauce 

1. Take a heavy-bottom non-stick pan and place it over medium-high heat. Once heated, add oil followed by garlic and shallots. Sauté for 30 seconds as they start to become fragrant 

2. Next, add your mushrooms and red bell pepper and mix around. Cover the pan and let the ingredients steam together for 5-7 minutes. Just be sure to jostle the pan every so often to keep things from sticking 

3. After a couple minutes, uncover the pan and add your kale, then re-cover the pan to continue steaming for another 2-3 minutes 

4. Once all your filling ingredients have softened, remove the cooked vegetables from the pan and set aside for the next round of cooking. Also, carefully wipe your pan clean of any remaining bits of filling, but don’t wash it… there’s yummy flavor in there!

5. Now, to make the sauce, take a small bowl and combine water, fish sauce, honey, lime juice, chilis and garlic together. Stir well then set aside

Stage 3: Cooking Time 

1. Before you get started, add your scallions into the crepe batter and mix well 

2. Take the same pan you used to sauté the filling and put it over medium-high heat. Lightly brush the surface with some coconut oil (but not too much!) 

3. With the pan heated, place a spoonful of filling back into the pan - keep it only on one half of the pan 

4. Next, ladle a small amount of batter (~1/4 cup should do) over the filling ingredients and thinly cover the bottom of the pan. Here’s where you get the xeo sizzle as the airy liquid dissipates and the crepe quickly cooks 

5. Cover the pan for 1 1/2 minutes to let the banh xeo steam 

6. After this time, uncover and add some bean sprouts, then re-cover to let the crepe steam for another 1 1/2 minutes 

7. Finally, uncover your banh xeo, carefully fold the nonfilling half of the crepe over the half with filling, then take the crepe out of the pan and serve immediately 

8. Repeat until all your crepes batter is gone

Note: To cook your banh xeo, it’s best to work with a heavy-bottom pan to evenly distribute heat across the pan. The batter is very fickle, and we can promise you - after many, many test batches - that using a heavy-bottom non-stick or cast iron pan makes all the difference!.