Crispy Vietnamese Pancakes
At first glance these eye-catching chile peppers look like red jalapeno. However, they have a different flavor and are less meaty than Jalapeno. Red Fresnos are great roasted and added to salsas. Try grilling them alongside your steaks or in kabobs.
When roasting these they should char, blister, and become soft. Try substituting these in your favorite chile recipes.
makes: 14 pancakes
Ingredients:
200 g/ 7 oz rice flour
2 tbsp cornflour / cornstarch (optional)
240 ml / 1 cup full fat coconut milk (from a can)
pinch of sugar
½ tsp salt
1½ tsp turmeric
about 240 ml / 1 cup of cold water
oil (I used peanut oil), for frying
FILLING:
2 carrots, julienned
1 red bell pepper, julienned
1 cucumber, julienned
2 spring onions, thinly sliced
favorite stir-fried vegetables (optional)
handful of beansprouts (I used mung bean sprouts)
fresh herbs: mint, coriander and / or Thai basil
Sriracha or other chilli sauce, to serve (optional)
DIPPING SAUCE
1 large garlic clove, finely minced
2 tbsp rice vinegar or lime juice
1 tbsp tamari (for GF) or soy sauce
1 tbsp brown sugar or maple syrup
1 red chile, finely chopped
Method
Mix all batter ingredients together in a large bowl and set aside. Add enough water to make the batter runny like crêpe batter. I used just over 1 cup of water to achieve the right consistency. It’s best to prepare the batter a few hours ahead of time and keep in the fridge until ready.
Combine pressed garlic and rice vinegar (or lime juice) in a small bowl. Let it sit for a few minutes – combining garlic with acid first will neutralise raw garlic flavour a little. After 5 minutes, add sugar, soy sauce, chile and 2 tbsp of water and mix well. Set aside.
Heat up a non-stick pan on a medium heat (I used setting 4 out of 6). Once warm, pour a bit of oil on the pan (I use 1 tsp on my 15 cm / 6 in diameter pan). Let it heat up until sizzling hot. Measure out about 1/4 cup of batter and take the pan off the heat briefly. Pour the batter onto the pan and swivel it a few times quickly so that the batter spreads evenly.
Cook the pancake for 2 minutes on one side, after this time, the pancakes should come off the pan very easily. Using a wide spatula, turn the pancake over and fry for 1-2 minutes on the other side.
Fold the pancake in half and set aside. Keeping the pancakes warm while you cook the rest will stop them from becoming too brittle.
Enjoy straight away, filled with stir-fried and fresh veggies, sprouts and herbs.
From lazycatkitchen.com