Thursday, January 14, 2010

Vietnamese Fried Springrolls (Cha Gio)



We loved Vietnamese fried spring rolls (Cha Gio). I loved the texture and crispiness of fried rice paper, it added a touch of difference from the usual fried Chinese spring rolls or egg rolls. It was quite pricey to order it in a restaurant as it costs about $2 a piece. So, I decided to make it at home. I got to put more ingredients in my filling as usually what we got at a restaurant was filled with minimal ingredients. It was definitely a treat but I hated that my hair smelled of fried oil afterward.




Ingredients:

(A)
  • Ground Pork
  • Wood ear fungus, soften
  • Carrot, shredded
  • Green onion, chopped
  • Glass vermicelli, soften in hot water, cut
  • Fish sauce
  • Sesame oil
  • Salt
  • Black/ white peppers
  • A touch of sugar

Vietnamese rice paper

Oil for deep-frying


Filling before wrapping.

Method:

1. Mix (A) together in a bowl. Let it marinate in the refrigerator for at least an hour.


2. Soften the Vietnamese rice paper in warm water, place filling on it and wrap it up spring roll style. Set aside and finish the rest.


3. Heat up oil in a wok. When hot, turn the heat to medium and deep-fry Cha Gio in batches. About three at a time and be careful not to let it touch each other as the skin would break. Deep-fry until golden brown in color, drain on paper towel.


4. Serve with Thai chili sauce, or Vietnamese Nuoc Cham (sweet vinegar sauce).


Note: 
1)  I read that by adding a little sugar in the warm water to soften the rice paper will help the rice paper to brown evenly when deep-frying.
2)  Adding an egg or two in the filling might help the rice paper to remain crispy, the filling has to be dry so that it won't create moisture when fried and soften the rice paper.



17 comments:

  1. I tried making this spring rolls once but I can't seems to get the rolls to brown up nicely. And also the skin turns soft and sticky after it cools down. Do you have the same problem?

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  2. Hi Lady, I love Vietnamese spring rolls, more their beef pho noodles.
    Good for Winter warmth especially with their hot chili padi.

    You stay young and keep a song in your heart, best regards, Lee.

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  3. oh myt goodness this is my favourite dish of all! :)

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  4. the filling looks really delicious, I wanttttt. not only cheaper to make at home but also more delicious :D

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  5. I can try this, because I still have plenty of Vietnam spring roll sheet. Thanks.

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  6. I dislike the smell of my hair after I do excessive frying too! :O

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  7. Very nice LCOM! However, I am a sucky when it comes to cooking. I wish there will be exact recipe rather than guidelines... :( But I know it'll be too much work for you to measure everything! Thanks for luring me with the pics!

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  8. Yummy! I made Vietnamese Fried Spring rolls before and I must say I ate 3 big rolls.

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  9. Gert, mine is not soft and sticky, but certainly not as crispy. I toast it in my toaster oven the next day for my girls. Next time, try some egg wash (I will try this too), my restaurant friend told me to use egg wash and her Cha Gio stays crispy even when cold.

    Thanks uncle Lee. I love their beef pho noodle too. :)

    Hehe BBOven. So envy of you who gets to eat all kind of food.

    Thanks noobcook.

    No problem Sonia. I will need to buy more Vietnamese rice roll wrappers.

    Me too Tigerfish.

    Sorry Quinn.

    Haha Queenie, three big rolls were not much, I ate about three or four rolls too. :P

    Thanks teatea. :)

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  10. Love this!! I havent had spring rolls for ages now!!

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  11. I love this Viet spring roll too but never attempt to make at home.Must try to make this at home soon!!.oh yes,this days wt window and door sealed tight during winter really make the whole house and our body smell bad when frying food.

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  12. It is true, they are great, but the oil hanging everywhere in the kitchen, air and person is not very pleasant. For that reason I do not make them very often and when I do, I do big big batches.

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  13. Beau Lotus, I seldom deep-fry food too hence I should make big batches like you, but then it also means I have to stand in front of the wok for a very long time. Sigh, trade off! :P

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  14. Hi,
    My name is Devine and I used to work and live in Vietnam for 2 years.I love spring rolls. I have came up with my own recipe and my Russian husband is loving it. Here it goes ladies!

    strips of pork
    ( Fry it until half cooked then I add my own sweet sauce. 2 tsps sugar and tomato catsup. Continue frying until the sauce get thick and sticky)
    shredded carrots
    thinly sliced cucumber
    glass noodles
    salad leaves
    just layer a bit of each ingridients and start rolling. you may eat it as fresh or deep fry it. It is better to leave the rolls in the fridge for like half an hour before frying to get rid of excess moist.

    Yum!

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  15. Hi there nice recipe I really love Vietnamese spring rolls. But at frying time is when I get in big trouble. When putting down to fry in hot oil the rice paper starts bubbling, inflates a lot creating really big bubbles and most of the times the bubbles explode, breaking apart the Spring Roll spreading the contents on the oil, burning the oil.
    They still taste good. But really look horrible, and will be a lot of waste in oil if keep doing like this.
    If someome can please share your wisdom to prevent the spring rolls from bubbling.
    Thanks a lot

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