Sizzling Saigon Crepes (Banh Xeo) (Recipe #66)

        Crepes are one of my favorite breakfast foods because they transport me to Paris! These sizzling saigon crepes had a Veitnamese influence rather than a French influence (so they brought me to Ho Chi Minh City!). These crepes were different from the average sweet crepe. They were savory and filled with veggies.

This recipe can be broken down into three main parts. I had to prepare the garnishes, a sauce, and the filled crepes. The garnishes consisted of basil, cilantro, and lettuce. The garnishes were easy to wash, dry, and place on a platter. The sauce was also easy to put together! It called for liquid aminos, water, lime juice, sugar, jalapenos, and garlic. I prepared these two parts before the crepes so I could focus on them.

I prepared the filling first by sauteing onions and sauteed shredded carrots. Then, it came to the crepe batter. The batter calls for water, rice flour, coconut milk, scallions, salt, and turmeric. I followed the instructions with what I thought was rice flour. The dough come together similar to a bread dough. I have previously made crepes (I like to make them often), so I knew that there was something wrong with a thick crepe batter. I continued to proceed anyway because I could not put my finger on what was going on. After I made a couple in the pan, they came out thick and gluey. I decided it was time to take a look at the rice flour itself because that seemed like the only ingredient that could potentially be wrong. The package says rice flour, but I bought it at my local Asian market, so most of the writing was in Chinese. I grabbed my phone and pulled up google translator to find that this flour is a high gluten rice flour designed for cakes. Now I know why my batter turned thick instantly. I am not sure what type of flour I actually did buy, but I know it was not the right kind for this recipe. Despite the texture, the flavor of the crepes were good. I can see this recipe being incredible with the right rice flour!

Taste: 7/10
Level of difficulty: 1/5--slightly time consuming

Notes for next time: I would like to do my research on rice flour and purchase a better one!