Name: Vietnamese prawn cakes
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 45 min
Yield: 4
Ingredients: 75 gm plain flour (½ cup); 50 gm rice flour (1/3 cup); 2 spring onions, thinly sliced; 2 tsp white sugar; ½ tsp baking powder; 300 gm uncooked small prawns, peeled and deveined, or uncooked large prawns, peeled, deveined and coarsely chopped; 200 gm sweet potato, cut into julienne; For deep-frying: vegetable oil; To serve: green oak lettuce leaves and 1 cup each (loosely packed) coriander, mint and Thai basil, coarsely chopped; Nuoc cham; 1 garlic clove; 2 tsp white sugar; 2 tbsp fish sauce; 2 tsp lemon juice; ½ long red chilli, finely chopped

Vietnamese prawn cakes

Australian Gourmet Traveller recipe for Vietnamese prawn cakes.

Serves 4

Prep

30M

Cook

15M

Total

45M

A classic street-food dish in Vietnam, these tasty treats wrapped in lettuce and dipped in nuoc cham are perfect summer fare.

Ingredients

75 gm plain flour (½ cup)

50 gm rice flour (1/3 cup)

2 spring onions, thinly sliced

2 tsp white sugar

½ tsp baking powder

300 gm uncooked small prawns, peeled and deveined, or uncooked large prawns, peeled, deveined and coarsely chopped

200 gm sweet potato, cut into julienne

For deep-frying: vegetable oil

To serve: green oak lettuce leaves and 1 cup each (loosely packed) coriander, mint and Thai basil, coarsely chopped

Nuoc cham

1 garlic clove

2 tsp white sugar

2 tbsp fish sauce

2 tsp lemon juice

½ long red chilli, finely chopped

Method

Main

1.Stir flours, spring onion, sugar, baking powder and ½ tsp each sea salt and freshly ground black pepper in a large bowl with 250ml water to combine. Set aside for 10 minutes, then fold through prawns and sweet potato.

2.Preheat oil in a deep saucepan or deep-fryer to 180C. Spoon quarter-cupfuls of mixture into oil and deep-fry, turning occasionally, until golden (2 minutes; be careful as hot oil will spit). Drain on absorbent paper, set aside and keep warm.

3.For nuoc cham, crush garlic and sugar in a mortar and pestle until a coarse paste forms, then stir in fish sauce, juice and 2 tbsp water. Add chilli and stir to combine.

4.Serve prawn cakes warm, wrapped in lettuce leaves with herbs and with nuoc cham for dipping.