Banh beo

Step 1: Whisk the 5 ½ oz rice flour, ⅞ oz tapioca starch, ½ tsp salt and 2 cups water into a smooth, thin batter. Stir in the 1 tsp vegetable oil and leave to rest while you make the toppings, at least 15 minutes.

Step 2: Pat the 7 oz raw peeled prawns dry and chop them very finely, almost to a paste. Put them in a dry non-stick frying pan over a medium-low heat with the 1 tsp fish sauce, ½ tsp caster sugar, ¼ tsp sweet paprika and 1 pinch black pepper.

Step 3: Cook, stirring and pressing with a wooden spoon, until the prawn is pink and opaque, then keep going until it dries out into fine, fluffy, orange-pink crumbs. Tip onto a plate.

Step 4: Put the 4 spring onions in a heatproof bowl with a pinch of salt. Heat the 4 tbsp vegetable oil until shimmering, pour it over and stir; the onion should sizzle and turn bright green.

Step 5: Stir the 2 tbsp caster sugar into the 6 tbsp warm water until dissolved, then add the 3 tbsp fish sauce, 1 tbsp lime juice and 1 red bird's eye chilli.

Step 6: Bring a steamer to a full boil over a high heat. Brush 8–10 small saucers or moulds, about 6 cm across, with oil and heat them in the steamer for 1 minute.

Step 7: Stir the batter well. Common mistake: forgetting to stir between batches. The flour sinks, so the first cakes come out watery and the last ones thick and gummy. Pour about 1 tbsp into each hot saucer.

Step 8: Cover and steam for 5–7 minutes, until the cakes turn from white to translucent and a small dip forms in the middle. Repeat with the rest of the batter; keep the cooked ones warm in their saucers or ease them out onto a plate.

Step 9: Spoon a little spring onion oil onto each cake, add a pinch of shrimp floss and 1 oz pork scratchings, crushed, and serve with the sauce to spoon over. Eat warm, scooping each cake out in one bite.