I like clothes and shoes. I like to buy clothes and shoes. I like to buy A LOT of clothes and shoes, however I’ve noticed that I don’t buy as much as I used to. Perhaps it’s because I recently submitted my letter of resignation (my last day of work is June 17th, woohoo!) and will be voluntarily unemployed for who knows how long or because I am attempting to plan a week long wedding/family vacation in August or I’m just plain ol’ gettin’ smarter as I age. Whatever the reason may be, I just don’t shop as much as I used to…unless of course it is online, but that is besides the point!
Anyway, while visiting my mom down in Vista, CA for spring break, we decided to get off our lazy asses and go to the The Forum at Carlsbad and do some damage. This glorified upscale mini-mall was probably the most ideal place for me to shop since there were very few stores there that I liked. No likey, no buy-e! Well, except at Anthropologie where I ended up buying my second wedding dress.
After making my happy little purchase, we stopped at Sur La Table to do some window shopping. There my mom spotted an ebelskivers pan that she really liked, but did not buy it because she’d rather have a “real” one from Solvang. Lo and behold, when we got home she whipped out an old ebelskivers pan that she had hidden in her cabinet and decided to make banh khot, a savory Vietnamese mini pancake similar to banh xeo except smaller.
Here is the recipe for my mom’s spur of the moment version of banh khot:
1 bag of banh khot rice flour mix
2 cans of coconut milk
1 1/2 cups of water
2 bunches of green onions — diced
1 whole onion — diced
1 lb. ground pork
tom kho (dried shrimp) — minced
1/2 tsp sugar
1 tsp cornstarch
bacon fat
salt
oil
Combine flour mix, coconut milk, water, and some green onions in a bowl and set aside.
Next, brown ground pork in a pan with the diced onion. Set aside when done.
Heat one can of coconut milk, sugar and a pinch of salt in a small pot. Add cornstarch to thicken the sauce. Mix the coconut sauce with the pork mixture and set aside.
Soak tom kho in hot water to reconstitute, dry, and then mince in a food processor. Saute the minced shrimp with some green onion in a pan. Set aside when done.
Heat ebelskivers/banh khot pan over medium heat and use bacon fat to grease the pan. Carefully pour the rice flour mixture into pan, and let cook for a minute.
Add a bit of the pork/coconut mixture into each of the pancake cups and then cover with a lid to steam for a couple of minutes.
Take off the lid and continue cooking until the pancakes are nice and crispy on the bottom. Carefully take the banh khot out and place on a serving plate.
Garnish with the tom kho mixture and serve with lettuce, mint, cilantro, any other tasty Vietnamese herbs and nuoc cham.
Posted in Cooking & Eating at Home, Food
Tagged banh khot, Cooking, recipes, Vietnamese
