Bánh xèo: the sizzling Vietnamese pancake, and how to eat it

Listen before you look. Xèo is the sound of batter hitting a hot pan, and a bánh xèo stall is a row of pans hissing at once. A minute later out comes a pancake the size of a dinner plate: golden, crisp at the edges, and folded over a pile of shrimp, pork and bean sprouts.

What’s in it

• The batter: rice flour and water, turned yellow with turmeric, often with chopped spring onion. In the south it is made with coconut milk too, which makes it rich.
• The filling: shrimp, slices of pork, bean sprouts (giá) and yellow mung beans.
• On the side: a basket of greens. Mustard leaves (cải bẹ xanh), lettuce, and herbs such as mint and perilla (tía tô). More on the leaves in our guide to Vietnamese herbs.
• The dip: nước mắm, fish sauce with sugar, lime, garlic and chilli, often with a few strands of pickled carrot and daikon. More in our fish sauce guide.

South and centre

In Sài Gòn and the Mekong Delta, bánh xèo are big and thin, folded in half like an omelette. One makes a meal, and two people can share. In central Việt Nam they are small, cooked in little pans, and you eat several at a time. Same idea, different size: if you travel the length of the country, try both.

How to eat it

1. Tear. Use your chopsticks to tear off a piece of pancake with some of the filling.
2. Wrap. Lay it on a mustard leaf or a lettuce leaf, add a few herbs, and roll it up. The mustard leaf has a peppery bite; that is the point.
3. Dip. Dunk the roll in the nước mắm and eat it in one or two bites. Fingers are fine.
4. Repeat while the pancake is still crisp. It softens as it cools, so eat first and take photos later.

Some stalls also give you rice paper to wrap with. Wet it lightly, add the leaves and the pancake, and roll.

How to order

• “Cho tôi một cái bánh xèo.” One bánh xèo, please.
• “Thêm rau.” More greens.
• “Không giá.” No bean sprouts.
• “Không cay.” Not spicy, for the dip.

Good to know

• Pick a stall where you can see and hear the pans. A bánh xèo should come to you straight from the fire.
• It is a lunch or dinner dish, not breakfast.
• It is messy. Keep tissues close, and don’t wear your best white shirt.
• The greens are raw. If your stomach is new to Việt Nam, start with a few leaves and build up.

Bánh xèo is one of many dishes worth a stool in the city: see our Sài Gòn street food guide for the rest.

Eat bánh xèo with us

Our Back-of-the-Bike Food Night has you riding pillion with a local driver through District 4 and District 5: six stops, six stools, from bánh xèo to snails to chè, with drinks included.