Banh Xeo

Nope. Crispy around the edges but otherwise too thick, even though my batter seemed to be the correct consistency and wasn't at all gritty. I wanted more flavor, which in my case really only came from the sauce and mint. Won't be adding this to my rotation, sorry.

@M Montgomery As a small child I ate banh xeo alone while my mother would eat it wrapped in leafy green lettuce and dipped in sauce like you might eat chai gio (Vietnamese fried spring rolls). The author is simply suggesting best practices for eating.

The picture doesn’t match the description ! When I was served this before, you just ate the pancake with the filling (tofu and mushrooms). That’s what the picture looks like. The instructions say to cut up the pancake and wrap it in lettuce leaves, Doesn’t make sense.

Made with Bob’s Ted Mill and these were a disaster. Had to add more liquid and they sat for 3 hours. Could still feel the grittiness in the uncooked batter. They stuck to the non-stick pan despite using oil. Skipped using boiling water based on comments and reviews of other recipes. I love the idea but the execution was bad.

Echoing some of the previous sentiments. Bacon: please no. Pork belly is better. When not available, I’ve also had it with ground pork. Dried mung beans could also be added to the filling. Addition of beer or carbonated water makes for a lighter crispier crepe. For those who had problems with the consistency, perhaps your batter was too thick? I’ve never tried making these in a cast iron pan but I can’t imagine it would be as successful. Use a good nonstick as noted.

Thought the recipe was quite close - I used pork belly and also had to add an extra cup of water to the batter to get it as light and crispy as I wanted, but it turned out deliciously!

The key to making this work is a hot hot pan and more oil than you are likely comfortable seeing, but with those two key ingredients, and patience, all will work out just fine. Also know that it might might feel like the top of the batter is under cooked, however once you fold it in half all is well and the recipe is perfect.

I made this with grated Japanese sweet potato and shrimp. Equal parts. It was delicious..

Good but very labor intensive and a long process. I subbed thinly sliced cabbage instead of bean sprouts and it was good!

Thinner batter & more oil? Keep filling separate and just put on top

I'm not Vietnamese, But I've eaten these in Vietnamese restaurants, and have made them at home. Please, do not use bacon! Use pork belly or loin or something that is fresh and not cured or smoked.

Did not work well. Used Asian Flour but it just did not turn out. Flavors good. Need to try again

This was a complete fail. The batter, no matter how long I cooked it, was not crispy, it was mushy and just fell apart. I had to scrape this mush onto plates. The dipping sauce was pretty good, though

This is the worst recipe that I have ever followed from the NYT. As a reader mentioned, the quality of the rice flour does matter. I used the Bob Mill's rice flour, and the result was a disaster: the boiling water turned the flour mix into a gelatinous blob. I had to add about 2 cups of water to obtain a batter-like consistency. I could not to fold the pancake, which never lost its gelatinous structure, and ended-up tossing everything in the trash, a first in 30+ years of cooking.