Vietnamese CookbookBếp Việt · The Vietnamese Kitchen

Sizzling Crêpes

Bánh xèo

The south's giant turmeric-and-coconut crêpe, fried lacy-crisp around shrimp and pork, then torn, rolled in lettuce with herbs, and dragged through nước chấm.

By Vietnamese Cookbook Kitchen · June 26, 2026

The Mekong DeltaThe Lê Dynasty era, 1428–1789

Sizzling CrêpesBánh
Prep
30 min
Cook
40 min
Serves
4
Level
Intermediate

The name is onomatopoeia: xèo is the sound the batter makes hitting hot metal, so this is, literally, the sizzle cake. Its deep origins are argued about — central Vietnam claims the small, thick bánh khoái of Huế as an elder cousin, and some food historians hear echoes of Cham and Khmer rice griddle-cakes — but the version the world knows is the southern one, grown huge and lacy in the Mekong Delta, where coconut milk goes into the batter and the herb garden comes to the table. There is no egg in it; the yellow is turmeric, a fact that has corrected a century of first impressions.

The cooking is a rhythm you learn by the third crêpe: hot pan, hard sizzle, a brief lid for the sprouts, then patient, open-air frying until the edge lifts like paper. But the eating is the actual recipe — a bánh xèo is not finished until it's wrapped in a leaf. Torn, rolled with mint and mustard green, dipped in nước chấm, each bite is hot against cool, rich against sour. Made well, dinner slows down to the speed of the pan, one crêpe at a time, and nobody minds waiting their turn.

The batter should run off the ladle like cream, not pancake batter. Every soggy bánh xèo I have ever met was a thick one — when in doubt, add water.

Lời đầu bếp · A word from the kitchen

Ingredientsnguyên liệu

Serves 4

Batter

  • 250 grice flour — plain rice flour, not the glutinous kind in the green-lettered bag
  • 1 tspground turmeric — for the yellow — there is no egg in this crêpe, whatever its color suggests
  • 200 mlcoconut milk — full-fat, well shaken
  • 450 mlcold water — plus more to thin; some southern cooks swap half for cold beer, and the crispness argument for it is real
  • 1 tspsalt
  • 2scallions — thinly sliced into the batter

Filling

  • 200 gpork belly or shoulder — thinly sliced; a minute in the freezer makes the knife's job easier
  • 200 gsmall shrimp — peeled; the delta often leaves shells on for crunch — your call
  • 1yellow onion — thinly sliced
  • 250 gbean sprouts
  • 90 mlneutral oil — about 6 tbsp — the crêpe fries, it does not politely set

To serve

  • 1 headsoft lettuce — plus mustard greens if you find them — their bite against the rich crêpe is the point
  • 1 large platefresh herbs — mint, perilla (tía tô), and whatever else the market offered
  • 250 mlnước chấm — from our foundations recipe, thinned a spoonful wetter than usual

Methodcách làm

  1. Step 1: Rest the batter

    Whisk the rice flour, turmeric, salt, coconut milk, and water until smooth, stir in the scallions, and rest it 30 minutes. The rest lets the flour hydrate fully — unrested batter fries patchy, hydrated batter fries lacy.

  2. Step 2: Start the filling hot

    Get a wide nonstick or well-seasoned pan properly hot over medium-high, film it with a tablespoon of oil, and scatter in a handful of pork, a few shrimp, and some onion. Let them catch color for a minute — they finish cooking inside the crêpe.

  3. Step 3: Pour and swirl

    Stir the batter, then ladle in just enough to coat the pan when you lift and swirl it — the hiss as it lands is the xèo the dish is named for. Thin is everything; you should nearly see the pan through the batter.

  4. Step 4: Steam, then crisp

    Pile bean sprouts on one half, lid the pan for 90 seconds to wilt them, then take the lid off and leave it off. Drizzle a teaspoon of oil around the edge and let the crêpe fry untouched for two to three minutes, until the rim browns and lifts.

  5. Step 5: Fold and repeat

    Fold the empty half over, slide the crêpe out, and eat it now or hold it in a low oven on a rack — never stacked, they steam each other limp. Wipe, re-oil, and repeat; the second crêpe is always better than the first, and the fourth better than the second.

  6. Step 6: Serve as a project

    Put the crêpes on the table with the lettuce, herbs, and nước chấm, and let everyone work: tear off a piece, roll it in a leaf with herbs, dip, repeat. Cutlery is for the kitchen; this dish is eaten with hands.

Đồ nghề · The tools

Equipment

All kitchen tools →

  • Bánh xèo pan

    Chảo bánh xèo

    A thin nonstick crêpe pan with low sloping sides — the crackling lace edge of bánh xèo depends on the batter running thin and releasing clean. Your heavy skillet will steam it instead.

    Shop on Amazon →

  • Nonstick frying pan

    Chảo chống dính

    For ốp la, fried rice, searing tofu, and toasting a bánh mì flat — the everyday pan between the grill and the fryer.

    Shop on Amazon →

  • Bamboo steamer

    Xửng hấp

    For bánh bao, xôi, and fish steamed whole — bamboo breathes, so nothing drips condensation back onto your work. Line it with a cabbage leaf, not parchment, and steal the leaf after.

    Shop on Amazon →

  • Mandoline

    Bàn bào

    Đồ chua lives or dies on evenness — carrot and daikon cut to the same whisper-thin matchstick pickle at the same speed. Use the guard; every Vietnamese grandmother has the scar that says otherwise.

    Shop on Amazon →

Equipment links are Amazon affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases, at no cost to you. Disclosure.

Questions from the kitchen

Why isn't mine crispy?

Almost always one of four things — batter too thick, pan not hot enough when the batter hit, lid left on past the sprout-wilting stage, or finished crêpes stacked so they steam each other. Thin the batter with water, use more oil than feels virtuous, and crisp with the lid off.

Can I skip the coconut milk?

Yes — replace it with water and the crêpe actually crisps a little easier. You lose the faint sweetness and richness that mark the southern, delta-style bánh xèo, which is a real cost. Central Vietnam's smaller bánh khoái proves the coconut-free style has its own pedigree.

Is the premixed bánh xèo flour worth buying?

It's respectable — the bags labeled bột bánh xèo are rice flour with turmeric and sometimes leavening already in. Follow the packet ratios, still rest the batter, and still pour thin. Mixing your own just gives you control over the coconut and the salt.

Nấu tiếp · Cook next

Keep the burner on

Hải Phòng Bánh BèoBánh

The World of Bánh·85 min·Intermediate

Hải Phòng Bánh BèoBánh bèo Hải Phòng

Hải Phòng's square bánh bèo — banana-leaf steamed rice cakes under a pork and wood ear topping, dunked in a peppery bone-broth dipping sauce.

Smashed Rice Crackers with Baby ClamsBánh

The World of Bánh·40 min·Beginner

Smashed Rice Crackers with Baby ClamsBánh đập hến xào

Cẩm Nam's two-texture trick — a wet rice sheet smacked onto a crisp cracker, broken by hand, and dipped beside baby clams sautéed hot with lemongrass.

Bánh CănBánh

The World of Bánh·60 min·Intermediate

Bánh CănBánh căn

Phan Rang's mini rice-flour cakes, a Cham inheritance baked in bare clay molds — crisp-edged, tender-centered, made at home in an aebleskiver pan.