Vietnamese Spring Rolls

Vietnamese Spring Rolls (Cha Gio) Recipe
Adapted from Inside the Southeast Asian Kitchen

Ingredients:

6 oz. ground pork
2 oz. small shrimp, minced
1 oz. crab meat, coarsely chopped
Some shredded carrots
1 oz. bean noodles/cellophane noodles/glass noodles – soaked in hot water for 30 minutes or until they turn very soft
1 clove garlic, minced
1 shallot, minced
3 big dashes ground black pepper
1 teaspoon fish sauce
Salt to taste
1 small egg, lightly beaten (use only half)
Vietnamese rice paper

Method:

Chop the soaked mung bean noodles into shorter threads. In a bowl, mix the ingredients together to form a sticky filling.

To roll the cha gio, place a piece of rice paper on a clean, wet kitchen towel. Dip your fingers in a bowl of warm water and run them all over the entire rice paper to soften it. Place 1 heaped tablespoon of filling on the moist rice paper, fold the rice paper over the filling, tuck in the sides, then roll to form a cyclinder about 3 inches long.

Heat oil over medium heat in a wok or a large frying pan. When the oil is smoking, gently put in a few cha gio in the oil. Fry them slowly until they turn golden brown. Dish out and drain the excess oil by lining them over some paper towels.