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Banh Xeo: The Mekong Delta's Sizzling Rice Crepe, a dish from The Mekong Delta, southern Vietnam
Regional specialtyStreet foodCheap eatsFamous

Banh Xeo: The Mekong Delta's Sizzling Rice Crepe

A turmeric-yellow rice flour crepe the size of a dinner plate, fried crisp with shrimp, pork and bean sprouts, then torn up and wrapped in herbs.

From
The Mekong Delta, southern Vietnam
Typical price
~$0.5–$2.5 (15,000–60,000₫) Estimate per crepe: roughly 15,000-30,000d (about US$0.60-1.20) at a roadside or market stall, and 40,000-60,000d (about US$1.60-2.40) at larger places or for premium fillings. One delta-sized crepe feeds one to two people. Prices vary by town and season.
Type
Southern Vietnamese fried rice crepe

What is Banh Xeo: The Mekong Delta's Sizzling Rice Crepe?

Bánh xèo is named after a sound. The word xeo is the sizzle rice batter makes when it hits a scorching, oiled pan, and in the Mekong Delta that pan is enormous: the finished crepe is often the width of a dinner plate or larger, folded once into a half moon and carried to the table still crackling. The batter is rice flour tinted yellow with turmeric and enriched with coconut milk, which is what gives the southern version its particular richness and its lacy, brittle edge. Inside go whole small shrimp, sliced pork belly and a heap of bean sprouts, sometimes with mung bean or shredded jicama. What arrives is not a plate of food so much as a kit. Alongside the crepe comes a basket of raw leaves and herbs, often a startling number of them, and a bowl of nuoc cham, the sweet-sour-salty diluted fish sauce that anchors most southern Vietnamese eating. You tear off a piece of the crepe, lay it on a mustard leaf or a sheet of soft rice paper, pile on herbs, roll it, dunk it and eat with your hands. Done properly it is crisp, rich, herbal and sharp all in the same bite.

Main ingredients

Rice flour batter with turmeric and coconut milkSmall freshwater or estuary shrimpSliced pork bellyBean sproutsMung bean or shredded jicama, in some versionsScallionA large basket of raw herbs and leavesNuoc cham dipping sauce: fish sauce, sugar, lime, garlic and chili

Which neighborhood to eat in

Can Tho, the main city of the delta

The easiest base for a first taste, roughly three to four hours by road from Ho Chi Minh City. Look along the residential streets away from the riverfront promenade and around the daytime markets, where places often specialize in one or two fillings and fry to order. Many open only in the late afternoon and evening, which is the traditional eating time.

Around 20,000-50,000d per crepe (roughly US$0.80-2)

An Giang and Dong Thap provinces, toward the Cambodian border

This is where the wild-herb version comes from. Around the Seven Mountains area of An Giang, the crepe arrives with a basket of foraged leaves rather than the standard lettuce and mint, some of them bitter or astringent in a way that is genuinely unfamiliar. Fillings can include beef or tiny field shrimp.

Around 15,000-40,000d per crepe (roughly US$0.60-1.60)

Rural markets and roadside stands across the delta

In the smaller towns strung along the river branches, a plastic awning, a couple of cast-iron pans and a stack of herbs cut from the garden behind is the standard setup, and the version served is usually the plainest and the best. If you are traveling between towns by bus or car, these are the stops worth pulling over for.

Around 15,000-30,000d per crepe (roughly US$0.60-1.20)

What it costs

Typical price

~$0.5–$2.5 (15,000–60,000₫) Estimate per crepe: roughly 15,000-30,000d (about US$0.60-1.20) at a roadside or market stall, and 40,000-60,000d (about US$1.60-2.40) at larger places or for premium fillings. One delta-sized crepe feeds one to two people. Prices vary by town and season.

An estimate — the price moves with the place, the neighborhood and the hour.

How to order it

  • Eat it the minute it lands. The crisp edge softens within a few minutes, and a limp banh xeo is a different and much worse dish.
  • Use far more herbs than feels reasonable. The bitterness and acidity of the leaves is what stops the coconut-rich batter from becoming heavy, and locals wrap a genuine handful into every piece.
  • Eat with your hands. Chopsticks are for lifting pieces of crepe onto the leaf, not for eating the finished roll.
  • Dunk the whole roll into the dipping sauce rather than spooning sauce on. The sauce is diluted and mild enough that submerging it is the intended amount.
  • One delta-sized crepe usually feeds one to two people, so order one first and see how you go rather than one each.
  • In flood season, roughly September to November, ask about the version filled with dien dien, a yellow seasonal flower that grows on the floodwaters and appears on menus only for those few weeks.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between banh xeo in the south and in central Vietnam?
Size and richness. The southern and Mekong Delta version is large, thin and crisp, with coconut milk in the batter, and it is wrapped in leaves and dipped in sweet-sour fish sauce. The central version, common around Hue and Da Nang, is small and thick, fried in individual pans, often with no coconut milk, and it is frequently eaten with a fermented anchovy sauce or a thick peanut sauce instead. Both are worth trying, but they are not really the same dish.
How do I eat banh xeo without making a mess?
Tear or cut a strip of crepe roughly the length of your palm. Lay it on a large soft leaf, usually mustard green or lettuce, or on a moistened sheet of rice paper if one is provided. Add herbs, fold the sides in, roll it into a cylinder, then hold it in your fingers, dip one end into the sauce and eat. It will still be slightly messy. Everyone's is.
How much does banh xeo cost?
Estimate around 15,000-30,000d per crepe, roughly US$0.60-1.20, at market and roadside stalls, rising to about 40,000-60,000d, roughly US$1.60-2.40, at larger places or with premium fillings such as duck or larger shrimp. Given the size of one crepe, two people can eat well for well under 100,000d, about US$4.
Is banh xeo suitable for vegetarians or people avoiding gluten?
The batter is rice flour, so it contains no wheat, but the standard filling has shrimp and pork and the dipping sauce is fish sauce, so the dish as served is neither vegetarian nor vegan. Vegetarian versions filled with mushroom, tofu and bean sprouts do exist, particularly at Buddhist vegetarian places, and soy-based dipping sauce is available. Ask specifically rather than assuming.
What is in the herb basket, and do I have to eat all of it?
Typically mustard greens, lettuce, Vietnamese coriander, perilla, fish mint, Thai basil and often several leaves with no common English name, plus young mango shoots in some places. Fish mint in particular divides visitors sharply. You do not have to eat everything, but try each leaf on its own once before deciding, because the combination is the point of the dish rather than a garnish.

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