Chef's Recipes

Dandelion: Sizzling coconut pancakes with spanner crab and barbecue pork

Australian Gourmet Traveller recipe for Dandelion's sizzling coconut pancakes with spanner crab and barbecue pork.

By Geoff Lindsay
  • 30 mins preparation
  • 1 hr cooking plus resting
  • Serves 6
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Dandelion: Sizzling coconut pancakes with spanner crab and barbecue pork
“This dish originates from Ho Chi Minh City’s speciality banh xeo,” says Lindsay. “The name ‘xeo’ (sizzling) comes from the sound the pancake batter makes when it hits the hot pan.”

Ingredients

  • 250 ml (1 cup) coconut milk
  • 4 eggs
  • 375 gm rice flour
  • 2 tsp ground turmeric
  • 1 tsp caster sugar
  • 2 tbsp vegetable oil, plus extra for brushing
  • 250 gm char siu pork, thinly sliced (see note)
  • 150 gm spanner crab meat
  • 150 gm bean sprouts
  • 3 spring onions, thinly sliced
  • 2 birdseye chillies, seeds removed, thinly sliced
  • 50 gm (10cm piece) ginger, thinly sliced
  • To serve: Iceberg lettuce leaves, coriander, mint and Vietnamese mint
Nuoc cham
  • 55 gm (¼ cup) caster sugar, or to taste
  • 2 red banana chillies, thinly sliced in rounds
  • 1 lemon, segmented and diced
  • Juice of ½ lemon, or to taste
  • To taste: fish sauce

Method

Main
  • 1
    Whisk coconut milk, eggs, rice flour, turmeric, sugar, vegetable oil and 500ml iced water in a large bowl until smooth and thin, then rest at room temperature for at least an hour.
  • 2
    Meanwhile, for nuoc cham, stir sugar and 150ml water in a bowl to dissolve, then add remaining ingredients, adjusting seasoning to taste; it should be sweet, sour, salty and spicy.
  • 3
    Heat a 23cm-diameter non-stick frying pan over high heat until very hot. Brush pan with 1 tsp oil and add one-sixth of coconut batter, swirling pan to cover the base and sides. Scatter over one-sixth of each of the pork, crab, bean sprouts, spring onion, chilli and ginger and cook until pancake is crisp (5-7 minutes), then invert onto a plate and keep warm. Repeat with remaining ingredients. Serve pancakes with iceberg lettuce leaves, coriander, mint and Vietnamese mint for wrapping, and nuoc cham sauce for dipping.

Notes

Char siu (or barbecue) pork is available from Chinese and Vietnamese barbecue shops.
This recipe is from the September 2011 issue of
.
Drink Suggestion: 2009 Bodega Castro Martin Albariño. Drink suggestion by Grant Van Every

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