Bánh Khọt (Miniature Fried Pancakes)

Bánh Khọt (Miniature Fried Pancakes)

Bánh Khọt (Miniature Fried Pancakes) is very similar to the popular banh xeo, but much smaller. As a matter of fact, it's spherical in size. They both use the same batter which consist of rice flour, turmeric and coconut milk, although my version of bánh xèo doesn't contain coconut milk.  The beauty - or silver lining of these dishes - is that both bánh xèo and Bánh Khọt are served with lots of herbs and lettuce or mustard greens (cai xanh). It gives you a chance to catch up on your green leafy vegetables. Nonetheless, it's the herbs and lettuce along with the savory fish sauce served with carrot and daikon pickle that define its flavor.

A perfect savory Bánh Khọt has a crispy slightly golden crust, a moist center bursting with turmeric flavor, shrimp, starchy mung bean and roasting earthy herbal flavors.  Though I am not fond of mung bean in banh khot, adding it would give  it a richer texture and more protein. 

Bánh Khọt (Miniature Fried Pancakes)

Recipe: Bánh Khọt
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Ingredients:
For Batter
1 bag of banh khot flour
1 can coconut milk
 350 ml Water
1 teaspoon Tumeric (Nghệ)
1 teaspoon Salt

For Toppings
2 stalk of Green Onion, chopped (use green part)
1 bag (1 1/2 pounds) Shrimps, size 61/70, peeled and devein
1/2 cup Mung Bean, soaked for a few hours or overnight, optional

For Powder Shrimps Topping, optional
1/2 cup dried shrimps (soaked in warm water for at least 20 minutes)
1/2 teaspoon Annato Oil (dau hot dieu), to enhance the color of  powder shrimps
1/2 teaspoon fish sauce

For Fish Sauce Dip
1 cup Water
1/2 cup Sugar
1/2 cup Fish Sauce
1/2 Lime, juiced
2 cloves Garlic, choppep
2 red Chillies, chopped
1 small ripe tomato, cut into half, removed seeds, optional

Accompaniments
Lettuce leafs or Mustard Greens, Mint, Fishwort (rau vap ca), Perilla (rau tia to)
Pickle Carrot (click here)
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Bánh Khọt  Tools
A chopstick with Cotton wrapped around one end.
Bánh Khọt Pan, available at most of the Asian supermarkets.  Or
Mini Pancake Pan/Ebelskiver Pancake Pan, available at most of the Kitchenware stores. Or
Takoyaki Pan, available at Japanese stores.
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Mixing Batter
In a bowl combine all the Batter ingredients together. Mix well.
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Making Shrimp Powder
Rinse, drain shrimps and grind them in a food processor until they're puffy. 
Heat a nonstick pan and fry ground dried shrimps with fish sauce and annato oil until dry.
Stir constantly to prevent burn. Leave it to dry completely before storing.
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Making Fish Sauce Dip

In a pot, bring fish sauce, sugar, water and a tomato to boil. Smash tomato so it mixed well with fish sauce mixture. 
Remove from heat.  Add the remaining ingredients.  Set aside.   
If you opted out of the tomato,  skip the boiling step.  Just mix all the fish sauce ingredients together.
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Steaming Mung Bean
Wash mung bean. Add a pinch of salt in mung bean and steam until tender. Set aside.
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Cooking Shrimp
In a pan heat 2 tablespoons of oil and add in garlic until fragrant. Add shrimps.
When shrimps is half cooked, add in 1 tablespoon fish sauce, 1 tablespoon sugar and 1/2 teaspoon ground pepper.
Cook until done.
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Making Bánh Khọt
Heat the pan and brush with oil. Stir the batter and fill each mini cup to 3/4 high. Add in some mung bean, a shrimp and green onion .
Cover for a minute.
Check to see if it's cook.
When cake is crunchy on the outside, cooked the inside and it releases easily from the pan, remove cakes and sprinkle shrimp powder on top.
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Presentation
Take a leaf of lettuce or mustard green and  add in a couple of herbs and pickles along with the banh khot itself. Roll it up and dip into the savory fish sauce dip.
Enjoy!