Chả giò or egg roll is a popular fried food in Vietnam that is usually served with lettuce and herbs to make a wrap and then dipped into a sweet and sour fish sauce ( nước chấm). The fried egg rolls are also often served over a bed of rice and accompanied by vegetables and herbs as part of a rice vermicelli noodle bowl or  bún chả giò. The egg rolls are filled with a mixture of ground pork, glass noodles, mushrooms and vegetables and then wrapped in a rice paper and fried until golden brown. In this recipe, we use both the traditional rice paper which are flimsy and harder to wrap. However, these egg rolls are lighter and crunchier than the flour based Chinese wrappers. Chả giò makes for a great treat at any gathering.

Difficulty: Medium / Serving: 35-40 egg rolls / Time: 1 hour

Equipment: Food Processor

Tip: You can freeze uncooked egg rolls in the freezer and they will fry up nicely once defrosted.

Ingredients:

1.5 pound of ground pork

1 pound of shrimp

1 bunch of glass noodles

1  package of wrapping paper (22” rice paper or 6”x6” egg roll)

1 tablespoon of mushroom seasoning

2 ½ tablespoons of sugar

3 eggs (2 for the meat mixture and 1 egg yolk to bind the eggroll)

1.5 cups of shredded carrots

1.5 cups of shredded taro

5 tablespoons of diced yellow onions

2 tablespoons of minced garlic

3-4 large piece of dried fungus for approximately 1 cup of minced fungus.

1 tablespoon of soy sauce

1 tablespoon of fish sauce

1 tablespoon of fresh lime juice

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Directions:

Soak the glass noodles in a bowl of warm water until the noodles soften. Pulse the glass noodles 2-3 times in a food processor. Set aside.

Soak 1 cup of dried fungus (approximately 3-4 large dried pieces) until softened. Thinly slice the mushrooms and mince the mushrooms in a food processor. Set aside.

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Peel and devein the shrimps. Use the food processor and pulse the shrimps until there is a paste-like consistency.

Shred ½ of a large carrot or approximately 1.5 cups.

Shred 1.5 cups of taro.

In a large mixing bowl, combine ground pork, minced shrimp, fungus, glass noodles, carrots, taro, ½ tablespoon of salt, 1 tablespoon of sugar, 1 tablespoon of soy sauce, ½ tablespoon of ground black pepper, 5 tablespoons of diced onions, 2 tablespoons of minced garlic, 1 tablespoon of mushroom seasoning and 2 eggs. Mix well.

To make the egg roll using egg roll wrapper:

Lay 1 sheet of egg roll wrapper onto a plate and add approximately 1 tablespoon of meat mixture to one corner of the wrapper.

Fold according to the pictures below. Use 1 egg yolk as a seal for the egg roll.

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To make the egg roll using rice paper:

Dip 1 sheet of rice paper into warm water. (* You can add a few drop of yellow food coloring to creating a light yellow color. This makes for a nice presentation.)

Lay the wet rice paper onto a plate and allow to dry for a few seconds. The wrapper should be drier and stickier.

Add 1 tablespoon of meat mixture to one side and fold. Be careful as the rice paper is much stickier and easier to break than the Chinese wrappers.

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Heat a deep pot with vegetable oil. Once the oil is hot, add the egg rolls and allow the egg rolls to cook until they float up and are golden brown. (*Tip: You can gauge the oil temperature by adding a white part of the scallion to the oil. When it turns golden brown, the oil is ready for frying.)

Remove the egg rolls from the pan and set on a plate covered with a paper towel to soak up the grease.

Make the sweet and sour dipping sauce by combining 1 tablespoon of fish sauce, 3 tablespoons of water, 1 ½ tablespoons of sugar and 1 tablespoon of fresh lime juice. Mix well and add some chopped Thai chili for additional heat.

For more recipes, visit our EAT page or Recipe Index.

Authors: Susan Tran and Chau Hoang