Vietnamese egg rolls

Vietnamese blog: Video cách làm chả giò (nem rán)

Cha gio (egg rolls) are a perfect finger food for a party. They're also a great appetizer to serve with beer. In a few steps, you'll be able to make the most crispy Cha gio. You can make plenty ahead of time, and store in your freezer.

Cha gio doesn't have cabbage in the filling, but it has plenty of pork and veggies. You can substitute potato for the taro corm, and bean sprout can be used instead of jicama.

♥ Ingredients:
(make 33 egg rolls)

1 lb ground pork
½ onion, finely chopped
1 cup (170 g) jicama, peeled and julienned
1 cup (170 g) taro corm, peeled and julienned
1 carrot, peeled and julienned
1 bunch green onions, chopped
1 oz (28 g) dried mung bean thread noodles, soaked and cut into 1 inch pieces
0.3 oz (8 g) dried wood ear mushrooms, soaked and chopped
1 egg
1 tsp salt
½ tsp ground black pepper
Rice paper or wheat egg roll wrappers
1 tbsp all purpose flour
Oil for frying

♥ Instructions: Watch video how to make Vietnamese egg rolls on VansKitchen Youtube

1) Squeeze the chopped onion and julienned jicama to remove excess moisture. This is important step to help the filling less moisture so the oil doesn't splatter violently when frying. Less presence of moisture in the filling also helps the egg rolls stay crispy longer.

2) In a bowl, combine ground pork, onion, jicama, taro, carrot, green onion, dried mung bean noodles, mushrooms, egg, salt and ground black pepper. Mix well.

3) To seal the egg rolls: mix 1 tbsp all purpose flour with 2 tbsp water.

4) Transfer the egg rolls filling onto a flat surface, lightly pat into 3/4 inch thick x 6 inch wide rectangle. Then cut into 3 inch long x 3/4 inch wide portions. 

5) Working with 1 egg roll wrapper at a time, place the wrapper with one corner of the diamond closest to you. Fold the corner up, place 1 portion of the filling on the folding. Roll and fold in the sides of the wrapper, continue rolling the egg roll up. Brush the top corner with flour mixture, and continue rolling up until it is closed. Set aside, cover to prevent from getting dry. Continue with the remaining ingredients.

6) In a skillet set over medium, heat the oil. Insert a bamboo chopstick to the oil to test the heat, the oil is ready when bubbles sizzles around the bamboo chopstick. Place the egg rolls in single layer, deep fry for about 4 minutes, flip over in between. Take them out, stand the egg rolls up to help them drain better. Cover with foil to preserve the heat and let the egg rolls continue cooking internally. Fry more batches until done.

7) To serve right away, continue with the second round of frying. Fry for about 2 more minutes.   
Serve when cool enough to eat. Wrap with lettuce and dip in Vietnamese dipping sauce or eat as is. Watch my video how to make Vietnamese dipping sauce here.

• To store for later: let the egg rolls cool completely after the first round of frying, then transfer into a ziplock bag, and place in the freezer. No need to thaw before frying. 

♥ Here are a few of the tools I used in the video:
Victorinox 8-Inch Chef's Knife
Victorinox Paring Knife
The Zuudlemaker - Julienne Vegetable Slicer
OXO Good Grips Salad Spinner
KitchenAid Shears with Soft Grip
KitchenAid Classic Y Peeler
Anchor Hocking Oven Bake and Food preparation Set
Lodge Pre-Seasoned Skillet