Bánh khọt are mini Vietnamese savory pancakes filled with tender pieces of pork and seasoned tender shrimp. Wrap them in layers of leafy greens, minty herbs, and tangy pickles, then dip them in a sweet and flavorful fish sauce for the perfect flavor-packed bite.
When you make them at home, the freshness and crispness can’t be beat. I’m a control freak so every little part of this recipe can be tweaked just to how I like it. All you need is a pan, fresh golden batter, and a few tips to get the crunchiest authentic Vietnamese bánh khọt.
What is bánh khọt?
Bánh khọt is a southern Vietnamese street food that looks like mini savory pancakes filled with shrimp, pork, mushrooms, mung beans, or other ingredients. Like its cousin, bánh xèo, bánh khọt is also made from rice flour, which gives it an extra crispy texture, and turmeric that creates a golden yellow hue.
My mom believes bánh khọt was adapted from a coastal, south-central dish called bánh căn. While bánh khọt is golden yellow, bánh căn is white since it’s just rice flour, and baked in mini round clay molds. It’s typically filled with eggs, shrimp, and other savory ingredients.
We eat bánh khọt at local Vietnamese restaurants like Brodard or Bánh Khọt Lady. It’s often served with a lot of leafy greens, mint, basil, perilla, and Vietnamese pickled carrots & daikon radish (đồ chua). You place one bánh khọt in the center of the greens and pickles, cover it like a taco, and dip it in Vietnamese fish sauce (nước chấm).
While I love dining out, buying bánh khọt can get pretty pricey, especially if you want a large volume to feed a party. This recipe shows you have to make bánh khọt at home that’s just as good, if not better than restaurants–and you can customize your favorite fillings too.
Batter ingredients
- Rice flour is the bulk of the batter and gives you a crisp and light texture. This is NOT the same as mochiko or sweet glutinous rice flour, which can create a sticky and chewy texture instead of crispy.
- All-purpose flour creates a tender and golden brown crust. When testing this recipe, we swapped out AP flour for cornstarch once and didn’t like the cracker-like texture. AP flour gave a better consistency and golden brown coloring.
- Turmeric offers a golden yellow color without artificial colors. You also taste the earthy and warm spice in the batter. A little turmeric goes a long way, so don’t add more if you think the batter looks too pale. The color amplifies while frying.
- Water and sparkling water are the bulk of the liquid for this batter. While water helps bloom the flour, sparkling water gives us an airy and light texture.
- Coconut cream gives the batter a rich and nutty flavor. You can also use coconut milk too.
- Kosher salt adds a little seasoning to the batter without overpowering it because you’ll dip the bánh khọt into a sauce while eating.
Filling ingredients
Traditionally, this dish uses seasoned shrimp and pork with minimal seasonings for the filling. We also saute the meat separately before making the bánh khọt to thoroughly cook all the pieces.
- We use frozen white shrimp in the 61-70 size because it fits our 2” diameter molds perfectly. If you use bigger shrimp, you may need to cut them before adding them. To make cooking easier, try to find peeled and veined shrimp. Here’s how to devein shrimp quickly if you need to learn.
- We like using minced pork butt because it’s affordable, flavorful, and has a better texture than ground pork. We cut the pork butt into ⅛” cubed pieces.
- Scallions add a light aroma to the filling, and we add it straight into the filling to make this recipe easier, instead of making Vietnamese scallions & oil garnish (mỡ hành) and adding it on top of the filling.
- Kosher salt and white pepper are two very simple seasonings used to marinate the meat for 10 minutes before sauteing. Again, we don’t want to overpower the seasoning when there are other toppings and a dipping sauce for serving.
Bánh khọt pan & tools
To make bánh khọt, you will need a pan with half spheres, like takoyaki or aebleskiver pans with a lid. We prefer using a cast-iron pan over nonstick pans for health purposes. When testing this recipe, we used a pan for takoyaki that measured 1 ½-inch diameter, but felt it was a bit too small, so we bought a bigger-sized aebleskiver pan that is 2 inches in diameter and 1 ¼ inches deep. Before cooking, we seasoned the cast-iron takoyaki pan to ensure a natural, nonstick surface.
An optional tool is a takoyaki pin stick that helps release the bánh khọt from the holes and move them around during cooking. You can also use a toothpick or a fork with thin tines.
Tips for perfecting your bánh khọt
- After mixing the batter ingredients, set it aside for at least 10 minutes to allow the flour to bloom and fully dissolve into the liquids. This bloom time helps the flour fully hydrate and loosen up any leftover lumps. You’ll notice a frothier batter after this.
- Cook the fillings before making the bánh khọt. This ensures the filling is thoroughly cooked, and you can focus the timing of the bánh khọt batter better without juggling both. We tested adding the ingredients raw and often times the cake would burn before the filling would be cooked through.
- Use a glass lid to oversee the cooking process, but use a towel to wipe the glass from steam occasionally. If this steam drops back onto the pan while cooking, it creates a splattery mess.
- Preheat a well-seasoned cast-iron pan with lots of oil, and don’t be afraid to add more oil during cooking to crisp the batter. This is a rich dish, and we’re looking for the best results!
How to serve bánh khọt
Bánh khọt is traditionally wrapped with leafy greens, fresh herbs (like Thai basil, mint, and perilla leaves), and Vietnamese pickled carrots & daikon radish (đồ chua) like a taco and dipped in Vietnamese fish sauce – nước chấm.
Bánh Khọt (Vietnamese Mini Savory Pancakes)
Ingredients
Filling
- 7 oz shrimp peeled and deveined. size: 61-70
- 7 oz pork butt minced
- ½ tsp kosher salt
- ¼ tsp white pepper
- 1 c scallions green parts only thinly sliced
- neutral oil
Batter
- ¾ c rice flour
- ½ c all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp turmeric
- ½ tsp kosher salt
- 7 oz water
- 7 fl oz sparkling water
- 7 fl oz coconut cream
- neutral oil for frying
Assembly
- leafy greens green leaf lettuce, romaine
- herbs mint, basil, perilla, cilantro
- Vietnamese pickled carrots & daikon radish (đồ chua)
- Vietnamese fish sauce (nước chấm)
Equipment Used
- knife and cutting board
- small mixing bowl
- large mixing bowl
- spatula
- disher
- saute pan
- cast-iron bánh khọt pan w/ lid, or takoyaki/aebleskiver pan ideally each cup inside is 2” diameter
- fork
- takoyaki pin stick or toothpick optional
- oven mitts
- cooling rack and sheet pan
Instructions
Preparing batter & filling
- In a bowl, combine the filling: 7 oz shrimp, 7 oz pork butt, ½ tsp kosher salt, ¼ tsp white pepper, and 1 c scallions. Mix together until the meat is well-seasoned. Set aside to marinate for at least 10 minutes.
- In another bowl, combine the ¾ c rice flour, ½ c all-purpose flour, 1 tsp turmeric. Stir until well incorporated.
- Add the 7 oz water, 7 fl oz sparkling water, 7 fl oz coconut cream, and ½ tsp kosher salt in a large mixing bowl.
- Sift the dry ingredients into the large mixing bowl. Stir until there are no lumps and set aside for 10 minutes to bloom the flour.
- Preheat a saute pan over medium heat. It will take about 3-5 minutes to heat up the cast iron thoroughly. You can test with a drop of water to see if it lightly sizzles. If it instantly evaporates, your pan may be too hot.
- Add about 1 tbsp of neutral oil to a saute pan. Add the marinated meat and saute for 3-5 minutes or until the pork and shrimp are opaque and firm. Transfer to a plate and set aside.
Frying the bánh khọt
- Preheat the cast-iron pan over medium-high heat. Add about 1/2 to 1 tsp of neutral oil to each hole.
- Pour batter into each hole to ⅔ the way up. Swirl the batter lightly around.
- Quickly add the filling into each hole. We like to add at least one shrimp and a few pieces of pork for each hole.
- Cover with lid and cook for 2 minutes.
- Remove the lid, pour oil around each edge of bánh khọt, and cover with the lid again. Cook for an additional 2-3 minutes.
- Uncover and use a pin stick or fork to release each bánh khọt.
- Cook uncovered for an additional 3-4 minutes or until the bottoms are golden brown and crispy. Move the bánh khọt occasionally and check to see the coloring on the bottom.
- As each bánh khọt is finished, transfer to a cooling rack for 1-2 minutes before serving.
Assembling each bite
- To serve, take one of the leafy greens and layer with other fresh herbs.
- Place one bánh khọt in the center of the greens.
- Add Vietnamese pickled carrots & daikon radish (đồ chua) on top and fold the greens to cover the fillings.
- Dip the wrapped bánh khọt into Vietnamese fish sauce (nước chấm) and eat.
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This sounds like a delicious dish! Thank you so much for posting it. I’m waiting for my pan to arrive so I can try it!
Wow cool to hear! I hope you enjoy the recipe 🙂