Vegetarian Banh Xeo

By: Giang

125g rice flour
40g plain flour
3/4 tsp tumeric powder
200mL Valcom coconut milk
400mL water
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp tapioca powder
2 spring onions, chopped into 1cm pieces
10 flat mushrooms, sliced
1 brown onion, sliced
vegetable oil
300g bean sprouts
1 iceberg lettuce head, washed and separated into individual leaves
1 bunch of Vietnamese mixed herbs (Vietnamese grocers will sell this and it usually includes Vietnamese perilla, coriander, mint, fish mint)
1 cup of water
1 tsp Lee Kum Kee Gold Label Soy Sauce
2 tsp sugar
3/4 tsp salt
ground pickled chilli (optional)
pickled grated carrot & radish (optional)

Combine rice flour, plain flour, turmeric powder, coconut milk, water, salt and tapioca powder. Stir until smooth then set aside.
To make the sauce, heat water in a small saucepan and add in soy sauce, sugar and salt. Stir until dissolved and adjust to taste as needed with sugar and salt. (Optional - When serving, add in some ground pickled chilli and pickled grated carrot and radish)
Add the chopped spring onions into the batter right before frying
To fry the individual pancakes, heat a medium sized pan on medium heat and add 1 tbsp of oil. Add some onions and mushrooms and saute. When onions become translucent and mushrooms cooked, pour 1/2 cup of batter into the pan and swirl to thinly cover the pan. Cover pan with lid until batter is cooked (becomes translucent). Then add in bean sprouts to cover half the pancake and return lid. Remove lid once bean sprouts are slightly cooked. Reduce heat to low-medium and leave until batter starts to crisp and brown around the edges (around 5 minutes). Fold the pancake in half by lifting the pancake (side without the bean sprouts) over, then remove from pan and serve on a plate.
To enjoy this crispy pancake, you can either: 1) Make a wrap with a lettuce leaf by layering on some mixed herbs and a 1/4 of a pancake, then dip into sauce 2) Eat in a bowl with lettuce, some mixed herbs and 1/4 of a pancake, with sauce spooned on top.