When you don’t know what to cook, but you look in the pantry and find a plethora of Asian ingredients you get these tasty Vietnamese style crepes. Feel free to add any additional ingredients to your platter for serving you would like. The would also be great with pulled pork, chicken or grilled fish. And, an extra bonus for this healthy recipe, rice flour is gluten free.

Serve with a floral, fruity and refreshing Gewürztraminer or white wine from Rhone. We tried an Italian Gewurztraminer from Abbazia di Novacella, one of my favorites from Alto Adige.

Recipe:

Asian Inspired Shrimp and Mushroom Crepes
Ingredients:

For the crepes:
1 ½  cup brown rice flour
2 large eggs eggs
1 ½  cups milk (you can also use water, but the milk will make them richer)
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
small pinch of sea salt
10 inch non-stick frying pan
butter or oil to lightly coat the pan when cooking the crepes

For the shrimp, tofu and mushrooms:
8 large raw shrimp, peeled and deveined and chopped
6 ounces fresh mushrooms, chopped
4 ounces tofu, cubed
white wine
½ lemon
Worcestershire sauce
soy sauce
olive oil

For the sauce:
½ cup Mirin
2 tablespoons soy sauce
splash fish sauce
1 teaspoon sesame oil
zest and juice of ½ lime
1 tablespoon chili sauce or Sambal (or to your taste)
2 teaspoons sugar or honey
1 tablespoon apple cider or rice wine vinegar
2 tablespoons grated ginger (I love ginger, so adjust to your taste)
2 cloves smashed and minced garlic
1 teaspoon minced cilantro
1 teaspoon thinly, thinly sliced green onion

For the plate to serve with the crepes:
1 thinly sliced English cucumber
4 thinly sliced radishes
25 Fresh sprigs of herbs like cilantro, basil, mint and parsley (we used a lot, but to your taste.)
2 cups fresh spinach or arugula
1 green onion, chopped
½ cup bean sprouts
Its not very traditional, but adding avocado or fresh mango slices to your shrimp crepes, or a drizzle of Greek yogurt to your mushroom crepes would also be great.

Preparation:

For the crepes:
Put the rice flour and a small pinch sea salt into a large mixing bowl and make a well in the centre. Crack the eggs into this and start to mix together. Now gradually pour in the milk stirring constantly to avoid any lumps forming. Add the extra virgin olive oil. Once all the ingredients are incorporated the consistency should be like a smooth single cream. Add a little more milk if it is too thick. Let rest for 10 minutes before cooking.

When ready to cook, heat and lightly oil a medium sized frying pan over medium/high heat. Pour the batter onto the centrer of the pan, I used approximately 1/3 cup for each crepe. Tilt the pan with a circular motion so that the batter coats the surface with a thin even layer of the batter. Cook the crepe for about 2 minutes, until the bottom is lightly browned, then ease a spatula underneath the crepe to loosen it from the bottom of the pan and flip it over to brown the other side. (And, if they don’t turn out completely beautiful, that’s fine…mine didn’t either, but they tasted delicious!)

For the sauce:
Add all ingredients to a mason jar and shake well. Set aside.

For the shrimp, tofu and mushrooms:
Add 2 tablespoons of olive oil into a saute pan over medium heat. Add ¼ cup onion and 1 minced garlic clove. Cook for 2 minutes then add the mushrooms and tofu (if using). Stir to coat with oil and cook for 3-5 minutes, until the tofu is starting to caramelize and mushrooms are cooked. Add 1 tablespoon white wine, 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce and a splash of soy sauce. Stir, cook for 2 more minutes then scoop out of the pan into a bowl and set aside. Add 1 additional tablespoon oil to the pan and the additional minced garlic clove. Cook for 1 minute then add the chopped shrimp. Cook for 1 minute, add a splash each white wine, lemon juice and soy sauce. Scoop into bowl and set aside.

Assembly:
Place all of the sliced and cooked ingredients onto a platter, either on their own or in the bowls you placed the cooked ingredients in, including sliced cucumber, carrot, radish, bean sprouts, green onions, all of your herbs, spinach, mushrooms & tofu shrimp. Pour sauce into a ramekin for serving and add to the platter. Serve with the crepes. To assemble one crepe add a scoop of mushrooms/tofu or shrimp into the center of one crepe. Top with whatever additional ingredients you would like, like some of the cucumber, radish, sprouts, mint and basil, etc. Fold over twice and dip into the sauce. Enjoy.