Crispy Vietnamese Spring Rolls

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These are called Cha Gio in Vietnamese - minced pork rolls would be the direct translation.

I usually avoid fried foods.  I even avoid frying food. That's why Jereme usually fries the spring rolls when we're craving them.  Vietnamese fried spring rolls are different from all those other fried spring rolls or egg rolls because they're made in delicious rice paper - which makes their texture so flaky and tender and crisp all at the same time!  Me and my love....we call these fried springies.....

When you combine the ingredients, only lightly mix them so that you don't overwork the mixture.

Fold in left and right sides, then roll...and shape them with your fingers to make them a pretty shape.  Vietnamese spring rolls are different from the Filipino Lumpia because of the different wrapper that they are rolled in.  Even the Vietnamese restaurants in town here use the "spring roll wrapper" that can be found in the frozen section of Asian markets.  But for many Vietnamese home cooks, it's the rice paper that makes the real spring roll...

Fry the springies in just enough oil to come up to half of their length.  Jereme is an excessive turner, but I think that it helps so that the springies don't stick.  Remember to leave room between them.

Drain the spring rolls on a wire rack with a paper towel underneath.

They are delicious with green leaf lettuce wrapped around them and dipped in nuoc mam, or garlic lime chili sauce.

Ingredients:

• Dried rice paper
• Oil for frying
• Glass noodles, boiled for 2 minutes and cut into 2 inch strips
• 1 egg, beaten
• 8 oz. ground pork
• 4 oz. shrimp, chopped into a paste
• 1 tablespoon fish sauce
• Freshly cracked pepper
• 2 Grated carrots
• Dried black fungus, rehydrated

Directions:

1. Rehydrate the dried black fungus in hot water for 30 minutes.  Cut into 2 inch portions.
2. Combine all the ingredients - besides the rice paper and frying oil.
3. Moisten a sheet of rice paper with warm water.  Lay it on a plate to let it soften.  Fill it with ingredients as pictured.  Fold in left and right sides, then roll.  Rest on a wet paper towel with another wet paper towel on top.  Depending on how much filling you put in, you can make about 26 of these.
4. Heat the oil until hot, about 7 minutes over medium high heat.  When you touch the end of a wooden chopsitck in the oil, and it bubbles, the oil is hot and ready.
5. Add the spring rolls. Cook about 5 minutes, then flip and contiue until they're lightly browned.  How long they take depend on how much oil you choose to use and how often you turn them.  Drain the spring rolls on  a wire rack with a paper towel underneath.  
6. Serve with green leaf lettuce and dip in fish sauce with garlic, lime, and chili