Chả Giò - Vietnamese Style Eggrolls Version 1.0

I know many of you are looking at this picture and thinking that I am crazy.  When you ordered your egg rolls at restaurants, it doesn't look like this!  I thought the very same thing 20+ years ago.  My mother told me that the flour sheets that we all are familiar with isn't what is used in Vietnam.  When I asked her why she doesn't make it like how it is made in Vietnam, she told me that the rice paper that is used, at that time, was too salty and the flour sheets are easy to fry and doesn't pose any danger when making them.

When I went away to college, I decided to give the rice paper a try.  My mother's words were right.  It is also difficult to make because the rice paper that is available in America is dry and there is an extra step of wetting them.  When I went to fry them, they bubbled up and will explode hot oil at you.

Now that I am older and more experienced with my techniques, I tried making it again with rice paper.  Now the rice paper that is available now isn't as salty before.  I buy the 16 cm rounds, so that I can wet two at a time, making process faster.  I allow the rolls to dry up a little before I start frying them.  I use a sauce pan to fry them in, instead of a frying pan.  The higher sides blocks a lot of the splattering oil.  I also cook in smaller batches, giving me the chance to control the "bubble" and avoid being hit by hot oil.

The recipe I am sharing here is a drier version of the eggrolls I normally make.  It is usually a hybrid of the Chinese version, mixing cabbage into the filling to lighten it up.  Cabbage has a higher water content and frying with the rice paper equates to a dangerous combination.

Filling:
1/2 lb ground pork/chicken
4-5 shiitake mushrooms, chopped into small pieces
1 carrot, chopped finely
1 small onion, chopped finely
1 tsp ground black pepper
1 tsp kosher salt

16 cm rounds of rice paper
Oil

Combine all the ingredients under filling and set aside.

For beginners, you need to do one rice paper at a time.  Don't wet it like how you see people do it online or on tv by letting it sit in the water until it is limp.  Just dip the rice paper into the water and wet the sheet completely and put it on your flat surface immediately.  Take 1-2 tsp of the filling and add it to lower center portion of your paper.  The paper should have soften enough to work with. Fold up the bottom portion, making sure that the filling is tucked in tightly.  Fold the two sides in.  Roll up to close.  I made a diagram and I hope it is helpful.  It's like rolling a burrito.

When you are frying, add one at a time and turn it continuously in the oil.  Doing this will allow the eggroll to develop a "skin"  of bubbles.  When you see the skin of bubbles, add the next roll and do the same thing.  Repeat this process.  Don't overcrowd the pot or you will have one big eggroll.  You will fry them until it has a gold brown color.  

I love serving this with some pickled daikon and carrots with some soft leaf lettuce and Vietnamese dipping sauce.