Banh Xeo by Mama Oui (Khmer Style)

Meal Type: Main Dish
Servings: ​8

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Ingredients

- Blender 
- Mortar & Pestle (Alternative: Blender or food processor to mash the peanuts!) 
- 3 cups of water 
- 1 cup of fish sauce
- 1 cup of sugar
- 3 garlic cloves
- 1 cup of vinegar
- 1/4 cup of shredded small carrots
- 1/2 cup of peanuts
- Generous amounts of vegetables (lettuce, cucumbers, mint, herbs)
- Small amount of shredded coconut OR a fresh coconut
- 1 lbs of chicken breast (or other protein)
- Cayenne peppers (optional) 
- 1 yellow onion
- 5 garlic cloves
- 1 bag of Banh Xeo flour found at an Asian store/section OR all-purpose flour mixed with turmeric powder
- 16 oz coconut milk 
- Cooking oil
- One green onion stalk (White)
​- 1 bag or 1 lb of bean sprouts 
- 1 egg
- Aluminum foil

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Directions

1. To prepare your fish sauce in a blender, put in the following ingredients and blend:
- 3 cups of water 
- 1 cup of fish sauce
​- 1 full cup of sugar
​- 3 garlic cloves
​- 1 cup of vinegar
- Add 1/4 cup of shredded carrots on top of your fish sauce!​
Tip: If you aren't using purified water, you will need to boil the water in a pot so that it is safer to consume. 

2. Put 1/2 cup of peanuts onto a small pan. Roast until toasted and fragrant (without oil) and then put roasted peanuts into a small bowl. 

3. With your fingers, pinch out the crispy, outer skin of all the peanuts. To get the outer skins out of the bowl, a trick we like to do in our family is to go outside to blow the outer skins away! It sounds silly but it works. :)

4. In a blender or mortar & pestle, finely grind or mash the peanuts into smaller pieces and put them into a small bowl. It depends on you with how fine or chunky you want them to be! These will be mixed in with your fish sauce when you serve the dish.

5. Wash all of your vegetables (lettuce, cucumbers, mint, herbs) at least three times and put them aside to dry and eat later. Mama Oui recommends that you mix the vegetables in a bowl with a good amount of water and 3 tsp of vinegar to get any pesticides out. 

6. Roasted coconut will be sprinkled on the top of your Banh Xeo crepes! You can roast already shredded coconut or use the coconut meat from a fresh coconut. 

If you have fresh coconut: 

• Cut it open with a knife and cutting board.
• Drain the juice into a separate container (You can save it in a fridge for a cold drink)! 
• Take out the coconut meat (about 1 cup) using the top of a soda can tab or spoon. 
• Cut the coconut meat into thin strips
• Roast it in pan (without oil) until golden brown and fragrant. Put aside in a small bowl.  

7. Cut 1 yellow onion into long strips and place them in a bowl, ready to sauté.

8. Chop 1bs of chicken (or other protein) into grounded, small pieces. Tip: Don't put it in the blender because it will be too sticky.

9.  Mince 5 garlic cloves and then add it into a medium-sized pan with some oil. 

10. Add in your grounded chicken (or protein) and cook without seasoning until all the water has evaporated. Then, add in sliced onion and shredded coconut from Step 6. Stir well and keep this mixture aside to put inside the crepes later. 

11. Batter Mixture: In a mixing bowl, add your Banh Xeo flour, 16 oz of coconut milk, and stir altogether. Using your coconut milk can as measurement, add water into the can three times and pour the water into your batter mixture. 
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12. Chop your green onions into tiny pieces and sprinkle it into the batter mixture. Beat an egg and add it into the batter mixture.  

13. Put oil into pan and use the white stalk of your green onion as a brush to coat the oil around the pan! 

14. With a nonstick flat pan, turn the heat to high, mix your batter and then add a scoop of your batter mixture. Move your pan around to coat the pan. Cover the pan. 

15. When the batter has settled soft as flour (but not gooey), wait for a couple minutes and then add some beansprouts and chicken on one half of the layer. Fold your crepe in half and then cover the pan for three minutes. 

16. Flip over the crepe to cook on the other side. It should be dry. When the crepe is done, stack it onto a plate. Put a piece of aluminum foil on top of each crepe so that they do not stick to each other.

17. Repeat steps 13-16 until all the batter is used! 

19. Serve the dish with your desired amount of Banh Xeo crepes, along with plenty of veggies! Have a side bowl with a mix of fish sauce and peanuts. Dip and enjoy!