The French brought a new dimension to Vietnamese cuisine when they added crepes to the range of culinary delights that Vietnam has to offer. Crepes are those very thin pancakes which are so unique to French cuisine and have a delightful range of either savoury or sweet fillings. This one enjoys a mix of lean meat through pork along with seafood such as shrimp. You know it is Vietnamese because the crepe is made with rice flour and coconut milk which generates its own aroma notes. It has always been a telling combination of flavours that characterises South-Eastern Asian cuisine. I know the chinese have some fine examples of this but the Vietnamese can claim some unique flavours.
Rather than eat a whole crepe the Vietnamese prefer to cut their crepes into small portions and then wrap each one in a lettuce leaf. It help keep the grease off the fingers – not that it stops anyone attacking this dish because it is so delicious. It may also be because the crepe is treated like a wrap but stymies grappling with because it is sometimes very flimsy and just a little unmanageable at times.
Makes 5 to 6 crepes and serves 4 to 6 people. preparation time: 30 minutes Cooking time: 40 minutes.
Ingredients:
- sunflower oil for frying
- pork – cooked by frying and then minced up
- prawns
- 16 butter lettuce leaves, rinsed and trimmed
- a handful of mint leaves
- a handful of coriander (cilantro) leaves
- 1 cucumber
Preparation:
- Mix the minced shrimp and minced pork together with seasoning.
- Stir-fry the mixture in a seasoned wok with some sunflower oil. It’s cooked when the shrimp turns a glorious pink colour. This should take about 2 or 3 minutes. Spoon out the mixture and set to one side.
- Make the crepes (pancakes) by mixing the rice flour, coconut milk, water, salt and turmeric in a mixing bowl to make a smooth batter.
- Wrap each section of the crepe in a lettuce leaf together with some mint, coriander leaves (cilantro) and cucumber. Dip into the fish sauce dip.
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