Recipe: Mung bean and prawn cakes

This recipe is taken from the following book. I haven't tried it but it sounds as if it would taste the same as cakes that we used to buy from a Vietnamese bakery in Footscray (Melbourne, Australia):

Meera Freeman. The Vietnamese Cookbook.
Viking, Penquin Books, Harmondsworth, Middlesex, England
ISBN 0 670 90672 7

Prawn and Mung Bean Cakes

2 cups whole dried green mung beans
500 g rice flour
1/2 cup self-raising flour
pinch of salt
pinch of sugar
1/2 cup bean sprouts, chopped
2 tablespoons finely chopped onion
1 cup water
Vegetable oil
12 small green prawns

Soak the mung beans in water overnight or for at least 4 hours. Drain and rinse the mung beans, then boil them in water until tender (about 30 minutes). Drain again and set aside.

In a large bowl, mix the two flours, salt and sugar. Stir in the mung beans, bean sprouts and onion. Add up to a cup of water to moisten the mixture and stir lightly - the batter should be similar to that for muffins.

Fill a deep pan with oil and heat. Spoon the batter into a small muffin shaped (and sized) mould and place a prawn on top. Immerse the batter-filled mould in the hot oil and deep-fry until golden brown. Turn out onto a plate lined with paper towels. Repeat the process with the remaining batter.

Makes 12.

Serve the cakes with nuoc mam (fish sauce?) and pickled vegetables.