(BanhKhot) Vietnamese Mini Savory Pancakes

Banhkhot, a mini-sized rice cake that is fried and served with fresh mustard leaves and herbs, as well as sweetened fish sauce for dipping. The technique is simple: you take a piece of Banhkhot and put it on a bed of lettuce or mustard leaves and herbs, add some pickled carrot and radish slices, and then roll it all up and dip into some sweetened fish sauce

The basic method for eating is to take one of the wider leaves like a mustard greens leaf for instance, hold it in your palm, then take a mini pancake, place it in the middle, layer it with extra herbs, kind of wrap the entire agglomeration into a spring roll shape (or however it turns out), and then dip into the Vietnamese fish sauce dressing. The dipping sauce, a version of Nuoccham, was sweet and salty, and supplemented with thin slices of carrot, daikon, and chilies.

To create one of delicious Vietnamese mini savory pancakes like this dish, all fresh ingredients are required such as fresh shrimps and vegetables. The sauce is also important to create the flavor for this dish. The batter is made of a combination of mostly rice flour, and even leftover grains of rice, with a hint of turmeric to give them a beautiful yellow tinge, and mixed together with coconut milk to make it extra creamy and rich. Finally, the topping is usually shrimp and diced up green onions, and in this case, extra coconut milk. The shrimp added a protein touch, and the pieces with the extra coconut cream topping, added just a hint of even more richness.



Like so many other Vietnamese street food dishes, it’s a great social food, something that not only tastes great, but is also fun to assemble and eat.