Friday, February 26, 2010

Vietnamese Egg Roll Recipe (Cha Gio)

I've had a couple of requests for my egg roll recipe so I decided to go ahead and blog it. This is how I make it- some other Vietnamese people may make it differently. :D


Ingredients: 
Filling
1 lb. Ground Pork
approx. 5 large carrots, peeled and shredded
4 bundles of the bean thread rice noodles (Package is usually wrapped in bright pink netting, 8 bundles per package), cooked, drained, and chopped.

1/2 a bag of dried woodear mushrooms, soaked for 15 minutes and then finely chopped
1/2 onion, finely chopped (optional)
1/8 tsp. Garlic Salt
1/8 tsp. Pepper
1 tbsp. Fish Sauce

Combine all the ingredients to make the filling.

Other Ingredients
1 egg, beaten
1 package of egg roll wrappers (25-30 count)
Cooking Oil

Make sure that you buy the thin egg roll wrappers. This is a good brand:Or this one is good too.
I have only found these kind of wrappers in Asian markets, NOT in local grocery stores. The regular ones in the stores are thick and doughy like this:

Do NOT use these thick wrappers for this recipe because the wrapper will begin to burn while cooking in the oil before the filling has a chance to cook all the way through.

Drop about 2 spoonfuls of the filling into the wrapper and use these instructions to roll them up. The beaten egg is used to seal the outside flap of the wrapper to keep it closed. Just dip your finger in the egg and run it along the edge of the flap to seal it:

Once your egg rolls are wrapped, heat up a pot of cooking oil to medium-high heat. If you want to be healthy, safflower oil is a great choice. Otherwise vegetable or canola oil will do. Make sure there is enough oil in your pot so that your egg rolls will float. Cook for 7-10 minutes or until they become golden brown. Drain them on paper towels and once they cool enjoy eating them!



Vietnamese Dipping Sauce (Nuoc Cham)
  • 1/4 cup Fish Sauce
  • 2 cups Water
  • 1 cup Sugar
  • 1 minced Clove of Garlic
  • 1 tbsp. Lemon Juice
  • 1 tsp. Crushed Red Pepper
Combine ingredients and feel free to alter measurements to taste.

7 comments:

loveland9 said...

Yippee! Can't wait to make them. Wish it were with you, but maybe another time.

brian said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
brian said...

Made this tonight. Found wrappers in refrigerated produce section of Albertson's. Filling was scrambled egg and napa cabbage. Deep fried them lightly in expeller-pressed coconut oil (no coconut taste or smell). Made the nuac cham as per the recipe. It was all delicious.

Ravenous Couple said...

very nicely done!! the fillings look great and perfectly wrapped egg rolls!

Lynn said...

Wow! A real food blogger gave me a compliment! Thank you! :D

Tonia- I'd be happy to make these with you anytime.

Brian- I would never have thought to use eggs and cabbage as a filling but I'm glad it turned out! I like my Nuoc Cham a little bit on the sweeter side but other people use less sugar and also add vinegar to it as well. Feel free to experiment- I know that's what you like to do!

Erika said...

Hi there! I am Tonia's sister-in-law and saw "Vietnamese Egg Roll Recipe" on her blog roll and had to come check it out. We love Vietnamese food...and I just happened to be trying to make some Nuoc Cham just the other day and failed miserably (funny story) so I was super excited to see this recipe! Thanks so much. And I can't wait to try the egg rolls. I love to get a bowl of rice noodles with egg roll pieces, broiled pork and veggies with Nuoc Cham on the side at any Vietnamese restaurant I can find. If you could tell me how to make that amazing pork, and some spring rolls, and peanut sauce, I would be your friend forever!

Phew, that was long. Thanks again, can't wait to try it.

Oh and good fried rice...Vietnamese style...

Erika said...

Oh! I am so excited! Send me the recipe straight away to yellowpearphotography@yahoo.com. Yippeeeee! Thanks so much in advance.

And yes, blog more recipes. That would be fabulous I think.