Banh Xeo - I grew up eating this crispy confection with my family. It has an outer layer of fried rice batter, and inside is filled with bean sprouts, pork belly, shrimp and onions. I don't know why, but the last few days have made me really crave this dish, but what was different from my usual food cravings is that I actually suddenly had the urge to try to make it instead of heading to the closest Viet restaurant.


This recipe was found on Rasamalaysia.com. But if you try it, take note, their version of the batter is wayyyy too thick, which is totally wrong. Luckily my father was there to supervise. After seeing my feeble attempts of ladling the thick batter that I had meticulous measured according to the recipe, he just took a bottle of Evian water that was next to him and poured it right into my batter mix. He's OG like that. Anyways, we basically added about 2 more cups of water and used all of the coconut milk that came in the can instead of 3/4 cup like the recipe stated.


 My favorite feature of any Vietnamese dish is that it has to have lots of greens accompanying it. Otherwise, it's just not the same.


The pork belly and shrimp getting nicely cooked. Dad likes his pork belly overdone, so we put that in first. Then let the shrimp cook halfway before adding the batter.


The trick to adding batter, my dad says, is to start from the outside, then working your way in. Fill in whatever bald spots after.


The batter, baking in the fat juices that came out from the pork belly. It gives it a better flavor. Veggies are added to the right side.


The hardest part to making banh xeo is the folding of the pancake. If you don't use the right tool, or if your batter hasn't cooked to the right consistency, it will break up.


Voila! The finish product.
Verdict? My dad devoured everything in sight!