Roasted pork & prawn crispy pancakes

90 g (3 oz/½ cup) rice flour

125 ml (4 fl oz/½ cup) coconut milk

¼ teaspoon ground turmeric

peanut oil for frying

250 g (9 oz) Chinese barbecued pork (char siu), thinly sliced

50 g (1¾ oz/½ cup) bean sprouts

4 spring onions (scallions), sliced

1 iceberg lettuce, to serve

1 cucumber, halved and sliced, to serve

coriander (cilantro) and Vietnamese mint leaves, to serve

prawn filling

250 g (9 oz) prawns (shrimp), peeled

2 teaspoons fish sauce

2 garlic cloves, crushed

¼ teaspoon each salt and sugar

1 tablespoon peanut oil

1 onion, thinly sliced

nuoc cham dipping sauce

2 tablespoons each lime juice and rice vinegar

60 ml (2 fl oz/¼ cup) fish sauce

2 bird’s eye chillies, finely chopped

2 small garlic cloves, crushed

1 teaspoon soft brown sugar

Combine the rice flour, coconut milk, turmeric, ½ teaspoon of salt and 185 ml (6 fl oz/¾ cup) of water in a bowl and mix to form a smooth batter. Leave to rest for 1 hour, or overnight.

To make the prawn filling, combine the prawns, fish sauce and garlic with ¼ teaspoon of salt and sugar in a bowl. Cover and leave to marinate in the fridge for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, make the nuoc cham dipping sauce. Combine all the ingredients with 1½ tablespoons of water in a small bowl and stir until the sugar has dissolved.

To finish the prawn filling, heat the peanut oil in a frying pan over medium heat. Cook the onion until translucent and add the prawns and their marinade. Cook until the prawns turn pink.

To cook the pancakes, heat a little oil in a non-stick frying pan over medium–high heat. Pour in a thin layer of the pancake mixture and tilt the pan to swirl the batter over the base. Top with some barbecued pork, bean sprouts, spring onion and prawns. Cook for 5 minutes, or until the base is golden and crisp. (This is really important or the pancakes will fall apart!)

Fold the pancake in half, slide onto a plate and keep warm. Repeat with the remaining pancake batter and filling.

Serve the pancakes on a large platter with the lettuce, cucumber, herbs and nuoc cham dipping sauce.

SERVES 4