One of my biggest goals these last few years has been to learn or try recreating some of the wonderful Vietnamese dishes we had at home. I often miss our large family feasts filled with gỏi cuốn (spring rolls), bánh bột lọc (clear, chewy shrimp and pork dumplings), bánh nậm (flat, rectangular steamed dumplings), and chả giò (egg rolls). Living in New York City, I’ve found it difficult to track down the right ingredients for Vietnamese cuisine. There was one time when I had to search five different supermarkets just to find a Vietnamese herb called ngò om. In the end, it’s totally worth the time and effort to get that little taste of home.
Vietnamese egg rolls (chả giò)
Without a doubt, my mother’s family recipe for chả giò (egg rolls) is always a hit. It has the perfect filling with the most satisfying amount of crunch from the deep-fried pastry wrapper. They’re always the first dish to go as family members scurry over to get their fair share. I’m happy to share our family recipe and spread our own tradition to you all.
Ingredients
- 1 bundle bean thread (soaked for 5 min before use), usually comes in a pink net with multiple bundles and can be found in the aisle with other rice noodles at Asian supermarkets
- 1/2 cup dried wood ear mushrooms (black fungus) (soaked for 30 min before use), usually comes in a plastic bag and can be found in the aisle with beans and other dried foods at Asian supermarkets
- 1/2 pound ground pork (leanest pork possible)
- 1/4 pound headless shrimp
- 1/2 cup carrots, chopped
- 1/2 onion
- 1 stalk green onion
- 1/2 cup jicama, chopped Usually found in the produce section in ethnic supermarkets. It has a white, radish-like interior
- 2 tbsp fish sauce
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp sugar or MSG
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1 egg
- 25 spring roll pastry wraps (8" x 8") Usually found in the freezer near the frozen dumplings at Asian supermarkets
- 4-5 cups corn oil (for deep frying)
Instructions
If you've frozen your egg pastry wraps, thaw them out completely for a few hours before preparing your egg rolls.
Soak the mushrooms and bean thread in water for at least 30 minutes.
Peel and de-vein shrimp. Put the shrimp into the food processor and pulse until ground.
Mix the ground shrimp with the ground pork.
Use a food processor to coarsely mince the mushrooms, shredded carrots, onion, and green onion.
Use a food processor to coarsely mince the jicama.
Drain the bean thread and chop into 1-inch pieces.
Mix all the vegetables with the ground meat.
Add the fish sauce, salt, sugar/MSG, and black pepper.
Add in one egg yolk and save the egg white to seal the egg rolls later.
Mix everything up to finish the filling.
Wrap the egg rolls. How do you wrap an eggroll, you ask? We’ve got you! Watch the video below for more guidance: https://youtu.be/NNUW38SilOo
Pre-heat your corn oil for 10 minutes before you're done rolling your egg rolls and ready to fry.
Deep-fry in corn oil until the skin is a golden brown.
Place on paper towel to blot any excess oil.
Serve while hot.
These egg rolls can be eaten alone or served in vermicelli bowls like this one!
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