Vietnamese Crèpe

Method:

An absolutely gorgeous dish, this is the best of cooked and raw food: a fermented crèpe for the cooked part, and pickled carrots and an abundance of fresh greens, sprouts, herbs and avocado for the raw filling. The crèpe is fermented to increase its nutritional value and make it easy to digest; it also adds a lovely flavour. It’s really quite simple, so give it a go – you won’t be disappointed! If you don’t have time to make the crèpe, the other ingredients and the dressing make a great salad with some tempeh or the filling for a collard wrap. Pickle your carrots when you put the quinoa and brown rice on to soak, or while your crèpe batter ferments.

Make time: 45 mins + pickled carrots | Soak time: 12 hours or overnight | Fermenting time: 12 hours or overnight | Serves: 4 | Equipment required: high-speed blender

To prepare the crèpe, drain and rinse soaked quinoa and brown rice thoroughly. Place in a high-speed blender together with filtered water and blend until very smooth. Place mixture in a clean container, cover with a clean tea towel and leave to ferment for 12 hours or overnight in a warm spot in your kitchen. You should see some bubbles forming and the mixture may have risen as a result of the fermentation; this is completely normal.

Place fermented mixture back in cleaned high-speed blender, add spinach, spirulina and salt and blend until smooth. You may want to add a bit more spinach or spirulina to make your crèpes a brighter colour and enhance the flavour.

You can store the batter in the fridge for up to 1 week, but it’s best used within 2–3 days of making.

To prepare the mandarin chilli sauce, combine all ingredients in a bowl and whisk to mix well. Set aside.

To finish, heat a non-stick frying pan with coconut or sesame oil. Add a quarter of the crèpe batter (about ⅓ cup) and distribute it evenly, to form a crèpe about ½ cm thick. Spread a little sliced chilli and spring onion over the top (this should stick to the uncooked mixture). Cook for a few minutes, until slightly brown, then flip to cook the other side for another few minutes. Cook all 4 crèpes and set aside.

In a big bowl, mix mesclun, bean sprouts and shredded red cabbage with about ¼ cup of mandarin lime chilli sauce, until thoroughly coated. Divide between the 4 crepes. Top each with pickled carrots, cashews, avocado, mandarin segments, coriander, mint and basil. Fold in half to cover the toppings. Serve with a side of mandarin lime chilli sauce and a lime wedge.

You can find this recipe, and over 130 plant-based wholefoods recipes in Megan’s cookbook, Little Bird Goodness

Ingredients:

Crèpe

1 C quinoa, soaked for 12 hours or overnight
1 C brown rice, soaked for 12 hours or overnight
2 C filtered water
1 C spinach leaves (tightly packed)
1/8 tsp spirulina
pinch of sea salt
1 tsp cold-pressed coconut or sesame oil
1 red chilli, deseeded and finely sliced
1 spring onion, finely chopped

Mandarin lime chilli sauce

1/2 C + 2 Tbsp tangerine juice
1/2 C lime juice
1/8 C tamari
1/4 C coconut sugar
1 1/2 Tbsp agave syrup
2 Tbsp finely grated ginger
1 clove garlic, finely grated
zest of 1 lime
pinch of salt
1/2 a finely chopped fresh red chilli

Toppings

4 handfuls of mesclun
4 handfuls of bean sprouts
1/4 red cabbage, shredded finely
8 overnight pickled turmeric baby carrots (recipe in Little Bird Goodness) or 2 carrots, julienned
3/4 C cashews
2 avocados, sliced
2 mandarins, cut into segments
small handful of fresh coriander leaves
small handful of fresh mint leaves
small handful of fresh basil leaves
1 lime, cut into wedges