Cha Gio (Vietnamese Spring Rolls)

I am a huge fan of cha gio, Vietnamese spring rolls--not to be confused with goi cuon which are not fried and usually translated as garden rolls. I have tried numerous versions of spring rolls in Chinese restaurants, and to me, the Vietnamese interpretation is what spring rolls should be. I know, I'm a little biased. The filling is made of just the right amount of meat and vegetables. The most refreshing part about cha gio is that they can be served in a number of ways. You can eat wrap them with fresh lettuce leaves and other aromatic herbs such as mint leaves (my favorite) and dip in nuoc mam cham (dipping fish sauce). Or you can eat them with noodles (bun cha gio) or with rice.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 lb ground pork

• 1/2 lb small shrimp, minced (optional)

• 4 oz crab meat, coarsely chopped (optional)

• 4 big carrots (~1 lb), shredded
• 1 big taro roots (~1 lb), julienne cut
• 
1 clove garlic, minced

• 1 shallot, minced

• 3 big dashes ground black pepper

• 1 teaspoon fish sauce

• Salt to taste

• 2 small eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 egg yolk 

• Spring rolls wrapper (see picture below for preferred brand)

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. In a large bowl, mix the ingredients (except the last 2 listed above) together to form a sticky filling. Since I'm an amateur cook, I always cook a spoon of the filling in the microwave to make sure I have seasoned it to taste.

2. To roll the cha gio, place a piece of rice paper on a clean flat surface (cutting board is great for this).

3. Place 1 heaped tablespoon of filling on the wrapper, tuck in the sides so that they meet in the middle, fold the wrapper over the filling and roll to form a cyclinder about 3 inches long.

4. Use the egg yolk as glue to seal the roll.

5. Heat oil over medium heat in a wok or a large frying pan. If you're fancy, you can buy a deep fryer. Or you can have your assistant does the frying while you blog. :)

6. Fry the cha gio slowly until they turn golden brown. Dish out and drain the excess oil by lining them over some paper towels.

7. Serve immediately with nuoc mam cham or roll it up with a fresh lettuce leaf and some aromatic herbs and then dip into the nuoc mam. Again, we didn't wait for pictures before diving in so I'll update the serving pic next time!