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 Perhaps one of the most typical and loved of southern street foods, bánh xèo is a large folded over pancake, stuffed with mung beans, shrimp, and pork. The pancake is somewhat like a thin latke (potato pancake) or an Indian Masala Dosa, with thin crispy edges and outside, but also pliable and thick enough to soak up the juices from the filling and the dipping sauce. The rice flour and soy bean pancake (called a crepe by some) is flavored with coconut milk and sliced spring onions and colored with tumeric. The bánh xèo pork, shrimp and bean sprout stuffing is first seasoned and fried, then placed in the cooking pancake before it is folded over. Rip apart your bánh xèo, wrap it up in fresh lettuce leaves and stuff in some of fresh herbs from the pile supplied. Then dunk the whole package in the fish sauce dipping sauce with roasted peanuts, chilies and shaved green papaya, and savor the goodness.
Where to find it?
Sadly, bánh xèo is hard to come by in Hanoi now that Green Tomato has closed, and it can’t be found street side. A good place to try it is at Quán Ăn Ngon though you’ll get only a taste of its potential, rather than its most savory goodness. Saigon is the place to really enjoy it.
Bánh Xèo Alley in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon)
Submitted by Hanh La
Bánh Xèo
is an extra-large Southern version of Hue's tapas-sized Banh Khoai. Its
name "xèo" is onomatopoeic and describes the sizzling sound made in the
pan. Two things "make" a bánh xèo: the hot-out-of-the-frying pan
crispiness of the shell and the just right balance of sweet, salty,
sour fish sauce for dipping. As with many Southern snacks, the bánh
xèo is wrapped and rolled in order to be dipped into the sauce. In the
South, that bánh xèo wrap is often a large fresh mustard green leaf
that gives a spicy texture that contrasts with the warm, softened
filling of the banh xeo: mung beans, bean sprouts, scallions, pork and
shrimp. Some folks in An Giang in the Mekong Delta even add an egg to
the mix, giving some credibility to some first timers’ description of
the bánh xèo as a large omelet.
Coordinates:
In Saigon, those in the know trek to "bánh xèo" alley" and chow down at
46A Ding Cong Trang, which is off of Hai Ba Trung Street near Tan Dinh
Market, District 1 (at the border with District 3). There are of
course copy-cat stalls right next to it, but you'll instantly recognize
the original stall with heaps of loyal customers. As printed on their
business card: "They have no other locations", and you'll never have a
bánh xèo as good anywhere else.
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