Chả Giò (Vietnamese Egg Rolls)
These disappear pretty quickly whenever I bring them to parties. As a matter of fact, at the last gathering, when I got up to get one for myself, the platter was already empty. This makes me happy, of course. Once you make your own chả giò, you’ll never order it from the restaurant menu again.
This recipe makes 40 egg rolls, give or take.
2 bundles cellophane noodles
6 dried shiitake mushrooms
1/2 c black fungus (wood ear mushrooms)
1 lb ground pork
1 large jicama (about 2 lb), cut into skinny short matchsticks
1 medium white onion, diced
5 scallions, finely chopped
2 eggs
4 tbsp fish sauce
2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 package (40 count) of wrappers
beer
canola oil for deep frying
In a medium bowl, place the cellophane noodles, shiitake mushrooms, and black fungus, and cover them with hot water (tap hot water is fine). Set aside to soak for about 15 minutes.
Separate the wrappers into single sheets. If frozen, allow to thaw on counter for about 30 minutes to an hour before separating.
In a large bowl, combine the ground pork, jicama, white onions, scallions, eggs, fish sauce, black pepper, and salt. Set aside.
Drain the soaked noodles and mushrooms. Remove and discard the stems of the shiitake mushrooms as they remain tough and not really edible. Squeeze to remove excess water. Chop them up together into short pieces. Add these to the large bowl with the rest of the ingredients. I put on plastic gloves so I can use my hands to break up the ground pork and mix everything well.
I like beer, so this is the best part. Open a bottle/can of your favorite beer, pour some into a small bowl. You’ll use the beer to soften and seal the roll. (My beer is inside the “squid” basting brush.) Here’s my setup right on the coffee table so I can watch TV as I roll. And drink my IPA.
To make each roll, orient the wrapper with one corner pointing at you. Fold up this corner to the center. Place about 2 heaping tablespoons of the filling near bottom edge, as shown. Moisten the opposite two edges with beer. Fold in the two sides, and roll from the bottom up. (It’s common that I run out of filling before I run out of wrappers. For this batch, I had one extra wrapper. You’ll know to adjust the amount of filling in each roll as you near the end.)
Once upon a time, I must have 5 different deep fryers, including a giant one for the Thanksgiving turkey. But for at least ten years now, the only one I use is the FryDaddy. It has no dials — meaning no setting, no timer. I fill it up to the inside mark with canola oil, plug it in, and let it preheat for 10 minutes. I gently lower 9 to 10 rolls into the hot oil. Fry for 12-13 minutes, or until golden brown. If you use another fryer, cook the rolls in 325°F for about 15 minutes.
Remove the rolls carefully with tongs. I stand the rolls inside a colander lined with paper towels to remove excess oil.
Note:
I’ve used green cabbage in place of the jicama; it’s fine. And I’m pretty sure no one will notice if you leave out the dried shiitake mushrooms. But I will know if you used something else other than beer to seal the rolls. :)
