A classic street-food dish in Vietnam, these tasty treats wrapped in lettuce and dipped in nuoc cham are perfect summer fare.
Vietnamese prawn cakes
Australian Gourmet Traveller recipe for Vietnamese prawn cakes.
- 30 mins preparation
- 15 mins cooking plus resting
- Serves 4
Print
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
- 1Stir 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.
- 2Preheat 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.
- 3For 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.
- 4Serve prawn cakes warm, wrapped in lettuce leaves with herbs and with nuoc cham for dipping.
Notes
Drink Suggestion: Cold lager. Drink suggestion by Max Allen