Banh Khot (Vietnamese Mini Pancakes)

Banh Khot or Vietnamese Mini Pancakes are huge crowd pleasers among the Vietnamese community. Known for their vibrant yellow color and crispy texture, they are often reserved for large parties because they are so easy to make, and it’s easy to make a lot of them. In this blog post, learn how to make these mini pancakes at home and how to customize them to your tastes. Vegan and vegetarian options included.

A lot of Vietnamese cuisine is centered around shareable dishes that everyone can share in the experience of eating. You have Vietnamese spring roll dishes where you can grab the fillings you want from a spread of ingredients to make your spring roll. You also have small appetizer dishes like banh beo or banh tom where small servings are placed in the center of the table and then each person grabs however many they want. I love these kinds dishes because it makes eating so much more fun and more of a shared experience. Thinking back to all those experiences, I wanted to share a dish that is a little bit a marriage between those 2 kinds of dishes. That’s how I ended up developing a recipe for banh khot or Vietnamese mini pancakes.

What is banh khot?

Banh Khot (pronounce like bon-tot) is also known as Vietnamese mini pancakes. No one knows exactly where this dish originated, but some say it comes from the Southern city of Vung Tau. It is a super popular dish in the Vietnamese community and can be found in restaurants and homes alike. I typically see this dish served at large parties because they’re served in such small, bite sized pieces. Usually, there is a huge platter of them, and people grab however many they want.

What makes them such a popular dish is that they’re actually pretty easy to make, and it’s easy to make a lot of them at once. Typically, they’re made with a turmeric and coconut milk based batter that is similar to the batter used for banh xeo. Because of the turmeric, they have this vibrant yellow color. There are various kinds of fillings you can use, but the most traditional fillings are ground pork, coconut sauce, mung bean, green onion, scallion oil, shrimp, and shrimp floss. Every family has their own way of making banh khot with variations in fillings, but most banh khot will contain green onion and a piece of shrimp as a topping.

Banh khot is eaten similar to a spring roll in that you typically eat it by grabbing one, putting it in a lettuce wrap filled with herbs (typically mint and do chua), and dipping it in nuoc cham. It’s such a refreshing dish which is why it is most associated with spring and summer.

How I developed my banh khot recipe

My goal for my version of this dish is to make it as simple and as accessible as possible, so I kept the ingredients simple. My version includes only the batter, green onion, scallion oil, and shrimp. I had many conversations with my mom about how the banh khot she’s had typically has mung bean and sweet coconut sauce as well, but I thought this would make this dish more complex than it needed to be. For me, the beauty in this dish is in the simplicity of it.

One of the signature parts of this dish is the texture (surprise, surprise). Vietnamese people love a crispy edge with a soft interior, and this dish is no exception. I tested 5 versions of this dish, playing with different ingredients, tools, and cook times. Some of the key things I discovered are that corn starch is the most responsible for this dish’s crispy skin and covering the dish for part of the cook time helps the center cook through while leaving the edges crispy. I also tested this dish using non-stick and cast iron aebleskiver pans (see below for my thoughts).

Non-stick vs cast iron aebleskiver pans

The only major tool you need for this dish is an aebleskiver pan. Aebleskiver pans are a Danish tool used to make aebleskiver or mini pancakes, a popular Danish street food. If you ask me how the Vietnamese ended up using Nordic cookware, I couldn’t answer you, but I do know that not all street vendors in Vietnam use it to make banh khot. I’ve seen street vendors use ladles to make this dish. But here in the West, we use aebleskiver pans because we have access to them.

There are 2 types of aebleskiver pans – non-stick and cast iron. I think you can use either, but I found non-stick a lot easier to work with. I tested this recipe with a cast iron pan and found that the batter is prone to stick to the pan. It also was hard to maintain and clean. I didn’t find that using a non-stick pan prevented my banh khot from having a crispy outside. It was actually plenty crispy for me. Of course using a cast iron pan will lead to an even crispier outside, but in my opinion, it is not worth the extra effort to use one. A great substitute for an aebleskiver pan is a takoyaki pan.

Ingredients, Substitutions & Adjustments

There are not that many substitutes for the ingredients because there are just not that many substitutes for each ingredient used to make a traditional version of this dish.

• Rice flour – Banh khot are typically made with a base of rice flour. No substitutes for this ingredient.
• Corn starch – Adding corn starch helps give you that crispy skin. You can technically make this dish without corn starch, but the texture won’t be as crispy.
• Turmeric powder – Turmeric powder gives this dish its signature yellow color. I would not recommend using fresh turmeric since ground turmeric turns into paste, which would affect the texture of the pancake.
• Salt for seasoning – Brings out the flavor of the other ingredients
• Coconut milk – Use full fat coconut milk for this recipe. This ingredient adds flavor and texture to the batter.
• Water – Water helps balance out the wet and dry ingredients, so the batter is the perfect consistency.
• Shrimp – Almost all banh khot includes shrimp as a topping. Use any kind of shrimp you can find.
• Green onions – Adds freshness to the dish and is used to make scallion oil
• Neutral oil – Use any kind of neutral oil like vegetable or grapeseed oil. You can even get away with olive oil.
• Fresh herbs for serving – I serve mine with lettuce, mint, and cucumbers, but you can also include Thai basil and do chua.
• Vietnamese dipping sauce – The dipping sauce this dish is served with.

How to make banh khot

Combine 1 cup of rice flour, 2 tbsp of corn starch, 1 tsp of turmeric powder, 1/2 tsp of salt, 1/2 cup of coconut milk, and 1 1/2 cup of water in a bowl. Mix and set aside. Mince green onions and divide in half. Combine half the green onions and 1/4 cup of neutral oil in a sauce pan. Cook for 15-30 seconds until the onions are shiny. Pour into a small bowl and set aside.

Heat an aebleskiver pan over medium low heat (~5 minutes). Add a small amount of oil to each hole. Using a ladle or large spoon, pour batter in the holes. The batter should reach the top of each hole. Sprinkle a few pieces of green onion into each hole. Cover and let it cook for 6-8 minutes.

Uncover the pan and top each pancake with 1 shrimp. Cover and let it cook for 1-2 minutes until the shrimp is cooked. Uncover the pan again and sprinkle a little bit of scallion oil (made in step 2) onto each pancake. Cook for another 1-2 minutes until the desired crispiness on the bottom. Optional: Using 2 spoons, flip the pancake upside down to crisp up the top of the pancake. Spoon the pancakes out of the pan and repeat the cooking process until the batter is used up. Serve with fresh herbs and Vietnamese dipping sauce.

Using pre-mixed banh khot flour

You can also buy pre-mixed banh khot flour from the store. You can use either pre-mixed banh khot or banh xeo flour. It is essentially the same flour mixture. Follow the instructions on the bag to make the batter and then use the fillings listed in this recipe.

Tips on how to make the perfect banh khot

Cooking this dish low and slow is key

While developing this recipe, I found one of the keys to achieving the crispy outside and a fully cooked inside is to cook it low and slow. In my first few tests, I cooked it on too high a heat, so the outside burned while the inside was undercooked. I found that medium low heat is the perfect temperature to achieve the perfect banh khot. If you think your pan is getting too hot, adjust the temperature lower.

Dry the shrimp before adding it to the banh khot

Another think I found in my tests is that when I added a shrimp that was too wet, it made the center of the pancake mushy. Pat dry the shrimp before adding it to the top of the pancake.

How to make this dish vegan

Use vegetarian dipping sauce and instead of shrimp, use mung bean and minced mushrooms. Cook mushroom before adding it to the pancake.

How do you store banh khot?

Banh khot can be stored in an airtight container for up to 3 days in the fridge. To reheat, place the banh khot in the toaster oven or air fryer, so you can make the outside crispy again.

How do you eat banh khot?

Banh khot is typically eaten in a lettuce wrap with fresh herbs with Vietnamese dipping sauce. This is how you make your lettuce wrap:

1. Grab 1 banh khot and add it to the center of a piece of lettuce.
2. Top with your desired herbs. I like mine with mint and cucumbers.
3. Roll and dip in nuoc cham and enjoy!

Did you make this dish?

If you made this dish, I would love to see!

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