Banh xeo - Vietnamese crepe
Last week (5-10 January 2008) I was again in Ho Chi Minh City so I went to 46A Dinh Cong Trang Street in District 1, the place for banh xeo and banh canh. It is on a road opposite the Tan Dinh Catholic church on Hai Ba Trung Street. Banh xeo is one of the landmark Vietnamese dishes that you must try when you're in Saigon. The Vietnamese pancake is filled with shrimp, pork and bean sprouts which is served with lettuce, sprigs of mint and Asian basil leaves and other herbs. To eat the pancake, take one of the larger leaves and use it to wrap around pieces of the pancakewith some of the smaller leaves thrown in, before dipping it all in a bowl of fish sauce, water, chili, lime juice, a little sugar, and garlic.
Banh xeo is cooked on a large flat skillet on an open fire. When the pan becomes hot, shrimp, fat pork and bean sprouts are added. A thin layer of batter is then poured into the pan and covered. After just a few minutes, it is ready to be folded in half and served.
An excellent noodle dish to accompany banh xeo is banh canh. As you eat the short round noodles (bee tai mak) , you can't help but make a slurping sound. The soup has a lot of flavor which comes from pig trotters boiled and simmered for a long time. Banh canh is essentially a noodle soup with a chunk of boiled pork and finely chopped green onions and coriander leaves added to the bowl of noodles.
