← Nouns Cooking · Vietnamese

Ingredients

• 150 g Rice flour
• 1 tbsp tapioca starch or cornflour
• ½ tsp Ground turmeric
• ½ tsp Salt
• 200 ml Coconut milk
• 250 ml water (half sparkling water for extra crunch)
• 3 Spring onion, thinly sliced
• 300 g small raw prawns, peeled and deveined
• 1 tsp Fish sauce
• 1 pinch Black pepper
• 1 clove Garlic, minced
• 6 tbsp oil, for the pan
• 1 Lettuce, leaves separated
• 1 bunch mint, perilla and other herbs
• nước chấm dipping sauce and pickled carrot and daikon, to serve (optional)

Method

1. Whisk the rice flour, tapioca, turmeric and salt with the coconut milk and water into a thin, smooth batter. Stir in two-thirds of the spring onion and leave it to rest for 30 min.
2. Toss the prawns with the fish sauce, pepper and garlic.
3. Set a bánh khọt or takoyaki pan over medium-high heat and put about ½ tsp oil into each well. When the oil is hot, stir the batter (it settles) and fill each well three-quarters full; it should sizzle loudly.
4. Cover and cook for 2 min, then press a prawn into the top of each cake and scatter on a little spring onion. Cover again and cook for 3–4 min until the edges are deep golden and crisp and the cakes lift out easily.
5. Scoop them out with a spoon and keep warm while you oil the pan again and cook the rest.
6. To eat, wrap a cake in lettuce with herbs and pickles and dip into nước chấm.

Tips

• No special pan? A takoyaki or aebleskiver pan works, or make small pancakes in a frying pan.
• Use plenty of oil and get the pan really hot, or the cakes stick and won’t crisp.

Sources

Written in our own words after cross-checking these recipes:

Vicky Pham Hungry Huy Wok and Kin