Banh Xeo - Vietnamese Rice Pancakes (with respect to Yotam Ottolenghi)

Yotam Ottolenghi used to do a column called the New Vegetarian in the Guardian. His recipes are/were always a fantastic combination of the familiar (easy ingredients, non-fussy preparation procedures) and the surprising (mushrooms with cinnamon or apples with fennel). 

He now has a website www.ottolenghi.co.uk, recipe books and a blog – just reading through them make you hungry and inspire a trip to the kitchen. Here’s one of my favourite recipes from his column, slightly tweaked to accommodate the season.

Pancake Batter:

1 cup rice flour

Pinch turmeric

1 egg

½ tsp salt

3 cups thin coconut milk

For the sauce:

Sesame oil – 1 tablespoon

Brown sugar – 1 tablespoon

Rice wine – 1 tsp

Soy sauce – 1 tbsp

Ginger-garlic paste – 1tsp

Chili – to taste

Mix all ingredients to make a sauce and let stand to help flavours meld.

For the filling

Carrot - shredded

Mooli - shredded

2 Spring onion – chopped

1 green, 1 fresh red chilli – de-seeded and chopped

Sliced asparagus, beansprouts (blanched in boiling water)

Shiitake mushrooms (soaked in hot, soy water, drained and sliced thinly)

Fresh Basil Leaves

Pancakes:

Make batter by whipping all the ingredients together. Let the batter stand for at least 30 minutes. Check that the batter is quite thin and runny – you want a light, lacy sort of pancake. Heat a pan and with a halved potato or a tissue, grease it lightly with sesame oil. When the pan is quite hot, pour in a measure of batter and swirl it around. When the pancake edges start to leave the pan, give the pan a little shake to loosen the pancake and then flip (mid-air if no-one is looking). Serve folded around the vegetables and dress with the sauce. It’s delicious!