Crisp Mini Coconut Rice Pancakes with Shrimp (Banh Khot)

By Sprig Originals ✓ · cooked up in Sprig

Little cupped rice pancakes with lacy, deep-fried edges and a soft, custardy coconut-turmeric center, each one crowned with a snappy shrimp. You wrap them in lettuce with a fistful of herbs and dunk them in sweet-sour nuoc cham. The whole trick is a thin batter and a screaming-hot, generously oiled well — a cast-iron mini muffin pan, takoyaki pan, or ebelskiver pan all get you there.

Ingredients

• 1 1/4 cups rice flour (not glutinous)
• 3 tbsp cornstarch or tapioca starch
• 1/2 tsp ground turmeric
• 3/4 tsp kosher salt
• 1 tsp sugar
• 3/4 cup canned coconut milk, well shaken
• 1 1/2 cups cold water, plus more to thin
• 3 scallions, thinly sliced

• 24 small shrimp (51/60 or 41/50 count), peeled and deveined
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 1/4 tsp sugar
• 1/4 tsp ground white pepper
• 1/3 cup mung bean sprouts (optional)
• 1/2 cup neutral oil, for the pan

• 1/4 cup fish sauce
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup warm water
• 3 tbsp fresh lime juice
• 2 garlic cloves, finely minced
• 1 Thai chili, thinly sliced
• 2 tbsp finely julienned carrot

• 1 head butter or green leaf lettuce, leaves separated
• 1 cup fresh mint leaves
• 1 cup fresh cilantro sprigs
• 1/2 cup Thai basil or perilla leaves
• 1 Persian cucumber, cut into thin spears

Instructions

1. Make the batter first so it can rest: whisk the rice flour, cornstarch, turmeric, 3/4 tsp salt, and 1 tsp sugar in a large bowl. Pour in the coconut milk and 1 1/2 cups cold water while whisking until completely smooth with no lumps. It should be noticeably thin — about the consistency of heavy cream, thinner than pancake batter. Cover and rest at room temperature 30 minutes (or up to 4 hours in the fridge).
2. Make the nuoc cham: stir the sugar into the warm water until dissolved, then add the fish sauce, lime juice, garlic, chili, and carrot. Taste — it should be brightly sour-sweet-salty; add water a tablespoon at a time if it's too aggressive. Set aside.
3. Toss the shrimp with 1/2 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp sugar, and the white pepper. If your shrimp are larger than 1 inch, butterfly or halve them lengthwise so they cook through in the same time as the batter. Pat them dry on a paper towel.
4. Arrange the herbs, lettuce, and cucumber on a platter and set it on the table with the dipping sauce. Banh khot must be eaten straight out of the pan, so everything else should be ready before you start frying.
5. Stir the sliced scallions into the rested batter and whisk again — the flour settles hard, so you'll re-whisk before every single batch. If it has thickened past heavy cream, thin with 1 to 2 tablespoons water.
6. Set a cast-iron mini muffin pan, takoyaki pan, or ebelskiver pan over medium-high heat and let it preheat a full 4 to 5 minutes until a drop of batter sizzles and sets instantly. Brush or spoon about 1/2 teaspoon oil into each well — you want a visible pool, not a film. That's what fries the edges crisp.
7. Pour batter into each well to just under the rim (about 1 tablespoon for a mini muffin pan, a scant 2 for a takoyaki pan). It should hiss and bubble around the edge immediately. Working fast, press 1 shrimp into the center of each and add a few bean sprouts if using.
8. Cover the pan with a lid or an inverted sheet pan and cook 3 to 4 minutes, until the shrimp turn opaque pink and the batter is set and no longer glossy on top. Uncover and cook 1 to 2 minutes more, so the trapped steam evaporates and the bottoms crisp — lift one edge with a chopstick or thin spoon; you're looking for a golden, lacy, slightly ruffled rim.
9. Run a small offset spatula or bamboo skewer around the edge and pop each pancake out onto a rack (not paper towels, which steam the crust). Serve that batch immediately while you cook the next.
10. Wipe out any burnt bits, re-oil generously, re-whisk the batter, and repeat until it's gone — you should get about 24 pancakes. Adjust the heat down slightly if the edges brown before the centers set.
11. To eat: lay a pancake in a lettuce leaf, pile on mint, cilantro, Thai basil, and a cucumber spear, roll it up, and dip generously in nuoc cham.

Chef's tips

Nutrition (per serving, estimated)

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