Vietnamese Crepes

Last night was my first attempt at making Vietnamese crepes for dinner. Let's just say that I need to keep practicing. This will be a big ongoing experiment! I found this crepe mix in Chinatown for $1.19/package, so I'll be heading back soon to get more.

The directions for how to make these crepes were pretty vague on the back of the package. For instance, the package says to mix the contents of the mix and the included turmeric seasoning with three cups of water and a BOWL of coconut milk! A bowl! What size bowl? A rice bowl? A cup of coconut milk? I just added the entire can of coconut milk because I didn't know how much to add. Turns out, I should have added the coconut milk first and then added water gradually until the thickness of the batter was thinner than pancake batter but a little thicker than standard crepe batter. I think my batter was on the watery side because I added the three cups of water and the entire can of coconut milk. I should have cut back on the water. After I added sliced green onions to the batter, I let it sit for at least 20 minutes so it could set and develop the right consistency. That was fine because I just worked on the filling in the mean time.

Now, you have to be ready to indulge in this dish, so be forewarned with what I'm about to say...make sure you add a teaspoon or more of canola oil to a nonstick pan. That's right, you can't be afraid to use oil--it's the secret to good crepes! There has to be enough oil in the pan so the crepe will brown and get crispy without sticking to the pan. Once the batter is added to the pan, it takes a little while to set (but that might be because I had the stove on medium heat). After it gets firm, you can add the filling of your choice (cooked chicken, onions, shrimp, pork and/or bean sprouts). I used chicken and onions since I didn't have bean sprouts or shrimp on hand. Let the crepe continue to cook and then fold it in half. Flip it over until both sides are nice and brown and crispy.

My crepes didn't get as brown as I wanted, but they still tasted good. You can serve this with red or green leaf lettuce. I didn't have fresh mint last night, so I served the crepes with cilantro instead. 

To eat, simply cut off small pieces of the crepe and wrap them in lettuce. Spoon plenty of fish sauce directly on the crepe and enjoy!