Bánh xèo (Vietnamese Shrimp Pancakes)

20 uncooked shrimp, peeled & deveined
140 g boneless pork loin, sliced
1 tsp fish sauce
¼ tsp SIDS CRAZY SALT
1 pinch (MSG) or 1 tsp sugar
⅔ cup rice flour
200 g water
170 g coconut milk
3 spring onions, finely chopped
½ tsp saffron, optional
2 cups rice bran oil for frying, as needed
½ cup bean sprouts
2 tbsp chopped fresh basil
CHILLI SAUCE:--
½ cup lime juice
⅓ cup fish sauce
3 tbsp water
3 tbsp white sugar
2 tsp chilli flakes
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 pinch (MSG) or 1 tsp sugar
4 leaves mustard greens

Marinate the shrimp and pork loin with the fish sauce, SIDS CRAZY SALT and MSG in a glass or ceramic bowl for 30 minutes.
Mix rice flour, water, coconut milk, spring onions, and saffron powder.
Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a pan over medium-high heat. Drop ¼ of the rice flour mixture and fry a large, thin pancake until bubbles form and the edges are dry, 3-4 minutes. Put ¼ of the shrimp and pork mixture on the pancake. Reduce heat to medium, add ¼ of the bean sprouts and basil, flip, and cook until browned on the other side, 2-3 minutes. Fold pancake in half and transfer to a plate. Repeat with remaining batter and filling.
Mix lime juice, fish sauce, water, sugar, chilli, garlic, and MSG for sauce together. To eat, roll the pancakes up together in a mustard green leaf and dip in the sauce.
HISTORY:-
Bánh xèo is a popular dish in Asia, the Japanese and Korean versions have dough on the outside, with shrimp, meat, bean sprouts, kimchi, potatoes, chives, (Korean banh xeo); shrimp, meat, cabbage (Japan) are fried until golden brown, molded into a circle or folded into a crescent shape. Depending on the locality in Vietnam, the cake is enjoyed with its own characteristics. There are usually 2 main methods:-crispy banh xeo and chewy banh xeo. Eat in two ways: eat with your hands or eat with chopsticks.
In Hue , this dish is often called banh khoai and is often served with grilled meat, the dipping sauce is a broth of soy sauce, liver, peanuts. In the South of Vietnam, the cake is added with eggs and people eat banh xeo with sweet and sour fish sauce. In the North of Vietnam, banh xeo filling, in addition to the ingredients like other places, also adds thinly sliced ​​​​radish or shredded taro. In the West of Vietnam, banh xeo is considered a specialty.
The vegetables served with banh xeo are very diverse, including lettuce, green mustard, fish mint, perilla, basil, cinnamon leaves, young rice leaves... In Can Tho, there are added chiet leaves, in Dong Thap, there are added lagerstroemia leaves, in Vinh Long, there are added young mango leaves, in Bac Lieu, there are added cassia leaves. The most elaborate are in the Central regions of Vietnam , in addition to raw vegetables, there are also added astringent figs and sour star fruit.
Phan Thiet pancakes are different from pancakes in other places because they are small, only the size of a bowl, and are not rolled with lettuce but dropped into a bowl of cooked fish sauce. ( fish sauce pounded with garlic and chili ) On Tuyen Quang street, there are many delicious pancake shops, so it is also called "pancake street".
Although the lotus is in the middle of a simple place, it still represents purity and nobility. From that meaning, "lotus pancake" in Saigon is a new dish that artisan Muoi Xiem has carefully created. Combining traditional ingredients with lotus seeds, lotus shoots, and lotus roots makes the pancake more full of rustic flavour. Besides, A Phu pancake and Dinh Cong Trang pancake still retain their own flavour and style for over twenty years.