The kitchen in the Shepard Hall basement filled with sizzles and pops Saturday as the Vietnamese Student Association hosted a bánh xèo workshop.
Bánh xèo refers to Vietnamese crepe, McCormick first-year and VSA Junior Executive William Ly said. It is a common street food and is usually made with rice flour, coconut milk and turmeric, among other ingredients. The batter is fried with oil and filled with a variety of toppings like bean sprouts, shrimp and pork.
Students began by pouring the batter into a frying pan, then adding the shrimp, pork and bean sprout filling. When the bánh xèo finished cooking, attendees could also choose to wrap the bánh xèo in lettuce and dip it into a provided fish sauce.
Ly said he wanted to expose the NU community to Vietnamese food and culture. He added he hopes the organization can host events with larger turnout in the future.
“We wanted to do an event where we get a lot of people and have food,” Ly said. “Everybody likes free food.”
Although the event functioned as a general VSA meeting, it was also open to anyone to come and learn about Vietnamese culture and eat bánh xèo.
Aside from being a popular street food, bánh xèo can also be adapted to any meal or situation — the filling can also be changed, and ingredients added — Weinberg sophomore and VSA Outreach Chair Jackie Le said.
“It is actually one of my favorite foods,” Weinberg first-year Uyen Millon said. “It is also very versatile, and there are a lot of different types of bánh xèo out there, and this is just one of them.”
Le said the dish is often consumed during springtime or summertime. She said although her family typically makes it for dinner, it can be eaten at any time.
According to Le, events with food attract more people while exposing them to a new cuisine.
“This is the quickest and easiest and probably most effective way to get people engaged in our culture and share a little bit of love,” Le said.
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