Recipe
🍽️ DINNER
Bánh Xèo
Sizzling turmeric-rice crepes stuffed with shrimp, pork, and sprouts, wrapped in lettuce and dunked in nuoc cham.
Vietnamese (Southern) · medium · serves 4
prep 25 min · cook 25 min
~639 cal · 37g protein · 69g carbs · 24g fat · 4g fiber · 9g sugars · 16g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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AI-generated illustration
Bánh xèo, 'sizzling cake' for the sound the batter makes hitting the hot pan, is a crispy Vietnamese crepe stained gold with turmeric, folded around shrimp, pork, bean sprouts, and mung bean. The southern Mekong Delta version is large and crackling-crisp, a joyful, hands-on dish.
The rice-flour batter is thinned with and turmeric, then cooked until lacy and crisp at the edges. The whole point is the ritual of eating: you tear off a piece, wrap it in lettuce and a bouquet of fresh herbs, and dip it in sweet-tangy nuoc cham.
It is a street and home dish across the Mekong Delta and beyond, as much fun to assemble at the table as to eat.
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Make it yours
✓ Naturally gluten-, dairy- and egg-free. No swaps needed.
Toggle a diet and the ingredients rewrite themselves with regional substitutes.
🥕 Vegetarian
🌱 Vegan
🌾 Gluten-Free
🥛 Dairy-Free
🥜 Nut-Free
🥚 Egg-Free
🐖 Pork-Free
Dietary labels are a cooking guide, not allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish; we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, read the label on every product you use, and note that a kitchen can cross-contaminate in ways a recipe cannot control.
Ingredients
US
Metric
Serves 4
2 cups coarse stone-ground white rice flour
2 tbsp cornstarch
1 tsp ground turmeric
1 cup
8 oz shrimp, peeled
8 oz pork belly, thin slices
3 cups bean sprouts
3 , sliced
3 tbsp (for nuoc cham)
2 lime
2 tbsp sugar
2 cloves garlic
1 chili (for nuoc cham)
a platter lettuce leaves, to wrap
a platter mint, to wrap
a platter cilantro, to wrap
for the pan
Instructions
1
Whisk the rice flour, cornstarch, turmeric and salt together, beat in 1.5 cups of very hot water, then the coconut milk and the scallions, and rest the batter uncovered 30 to 45 minutes until it thickens to the consistency of single cream.
✎ Chef’s note
Use coarse stone-ground white rice flour, not the fine Thai kind: the grind is what gives the batter its body and the crepe its crackle, and the finely milled flour makes a gummy one. Resting lets the flour hydrate; if it stiffens past pouring cream, loosen it with a spoonful of water.
2
Stir together the nuoc cham dipping sauce: fish sauce, lime juice, sugar, garlic, chili, and 1/4 cup water.
3
In a hot, oiled skillet, sear a few shrimp and pork slices (or mushrooms and tofu) until they start to color.
4
Ladle in a thin swirl of batter and tilt the pan so it coats the base in a lacy layer (it should hiss, the "xeo" it is named for).
5
Scatter bean sprouts over one half, cover for 2 minutes, then uncover, drizzle a little more oil around the rim of the crepe, and cook until the edges crisp and lift away from the pan.
✎ Chef’s note
That drizzle of oil around the rim is what crisps the edge into the shattering lace that makes a banh xeo. Without it the crepe stays soft and folds like an omelette.
6
Fold the crepe over and slide it out. Repeat with the rest of the batter.
7
Snip it into pieces with scissors, wrap them in lettuce leaves with fresh herbs, and dip generously in the nuoc cham.
Mekong Delta tradition.
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Mekong Delta. The delta's banh xeo is the big one. Rice batter turned yellow with turmeric and loosened with coconut milk is poured thin across a wide pan until the edges go brittle, filled with prawn, pork belly, mung bean and sprouts, then torn up, wrapped in leaves and dipped.
🗺️
Vietnam. Vietnam cooks differently along its length. The north is the most restrained, using less sugar and less chilli; the centre around Hue is the spiciest and the fondest of many small dishes at once; and the south is sweeter and richer, with more coconut and more fruit. Bun bo Hue announces the centre with fermented shrimp paste as much as with lemongrass.
🌍
Asia. Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, and its food spans the delicate seasonality of Japanese washoku, the chili-fired curries of India and Thailand, and the wheat-and-lamb traditions of Central Asia. Rice, noodles, soy, and fermentation recur across its regions, while ancient spice routes and religious traditions shaped distinct grammars of flavor. Whether from a street-cart wok or a monastery kitchen, eating is deeply communal and ritual-rich.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.
More from Vietnam
Phở Gà (Hanoi Chicken Pho)A clear, star-anise-scented chicken broth over rice noodles, finished with herbs and lime at the table.
Bún Bò HuếThe imperial city’s fierce beef-and-lemongrass noodle soup, spiked with chili oil and shrimp paste, bolder than pho.
Bánh MìA crackly baguette stuffed with pâté, pork, pickled daikon-carrot, cilantro, and chili, French bread reborn in Saigon.
Browse all Vietnam recipes →
Good to know
You’ll need: Skillet or frying pan, Whisk.
Storing it: Best fresh and hot. Keep batter covered in the fridge for up to a day, and rewarm cooked ones in a dry pan.
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Cuisine
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Frequently asked questions
What is Bánh Xèo?
Sizzling turmeric-rice crepes stuffed with shrimp, pork, and sprouts, wrapped in lettuce and dunked in nuoc cham.
Where does Bánh Xèo come from?
Bánh Xèo is a Vietnamese (Southern) dish from Mekong Delta, Vietnam.
Can Bánh Xèo be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Bánh Xèo recipe includes substitution suggestions for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, egg-free, and pork-free versions, including several at once such as gluten-free and dairy-free together. Treat them as a starting guide rather than a guarantee, and see the allergen note below.
Is Bánh Xèo safe for people with food allergies?
Our dietary labels and substitutions are a cooking guide, not medical or allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish, but we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, always read the label on every product you use, and remember a home or commercial kitchen can cross-contaminate ingredients in ways a recipe cannot control.
How long does Bánh Xèo take to make?
About 50 minutes total (25 minutes prep, 25 minutes cooking), serving 4.
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