Destination
Koh Samui
The story
Khanom buang yuan is a specifically Thai adaptation of the Vietnamese banh xeo — bright yellow (from turmeric) rice-flour crepes cooked crispy in a large flat pan, filled with prawn, minced pork, bean sprouts, garlic chives and a scatter of Thai basil, then folded and cut into wedges. Served with a small dish of Thai-style dipping sauce (fish sauce, lime, chili, garlic, palm sugar) and a plate of fresh Thai herbs and vegetables (lettuce, mint, coriander, cucumber) for wrapping. The dish arrived in Bangkok via the Vietnamese-Thai communities of the country's northeast and became a Bangkok food-court and street-stall specialty. Every Bangkok Vietnamese restaurant has khanom buang yuan on the menu.
Method
Whisk all batter ingredients into a smooth thin batter. Rest 30 minutes.
Whisk all dipping sauce ingredients until sugar dissolves. Divide between small dishes.
In a small pan, cook minced pork with garlic and 1 tbsp fish sauce 6 minutes until browned. Set aside.
Warm 1 tbsp oil in a 24cm heavy non-stick pan over medium-high heat.
Pour a ladle of batter (about 100ml) into the pan, swirling to spread thin. Cook 60 seconds.
Scatter across the batter: a small handful of onion slices, 3 or 4 prawn halves, a spoon of cooked pork, a fistful of bean sprouts, some garlic chive lengths and a few Thai basil leaves.
Cover briefly (30 seconds) so the prawns cook. Uncover and cook another 2 minutes until the crepe base is crispy at the edges.
Fold the crepe in half. Slide onto a warm plate. Cut into 3 or 4 wedges. Serve immediately with dipping sauce and a plate of lettuce, herbs and cucumber. Diners wrap wedges of crepe in lettuce with herbs and dip into the sauce.
Tips
- Turmeric for yellow. Do not skip — this is the classical banh xeo colour.
- Coconut milk. This is what makes the batter richer and slightly softer than plain rice-flour crepes.
- Very hot pan. Wok hei matters even for crepes.
- Serve with lots of herbs. Half the meal is the fresh herb wrap.
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