Vietnamese Spring Rolls - cha gio recipe

Ingredients -- cooking Method

2 Oz Cellophane Noodles
1 Lb Ground Lean Pork
1 Lg Onion
2 Tbsp Tree Ears Dried Mushroon (Nam Meo)
3 Cloves Garlic -- f. chopped
8 Oz Crab Meat
4 Oz Shrimp -- shelled and chopped
1/2 Tsp Pepper
20 Sheets Dried Rice Paper (Banh Trang)
4 Eggs -- beaten
2 C Peanut Oil
start cooking
Soak noodles in warm water for 20 minutes and cut into 1-inch lengths. Soak Tree Ear in warm water for 30 minutes, drain and finely chop. Combine the filling ingredients in a bowl and set aside. Cut a round rice paper sheet into quarters. Place the cut rice paper on a flat surface. With a pastry brush, paint beaten egg over the entire surface of the rice paper piece. Before filling, wait for the egg mixture to take effect, softening the wrappers; this take about 2 minutes. When you become adept at this, you can work on several wrappers at a time. When the wrapper looks soft and transparent, place about one teaspoon of filling near the curved side, in the shape of a rectangle. Fold the side over to enclose the filling and continue to roll. After filling all the wrappers, pour the oil into a large frying pan, put the spring rolls into the cold oil, turn the heat to moderate, and fry for 20 to 30 minutes until a lovely golden brown. (This is a special method of keeping spring rolls crisp.)


For dipping:


2 cloves garlic, -- finely chopped
1 fresh hot chili pepper finely chopped
1 TB plus 1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 lime
1/4 c fish sauce
5 TB water
In a small bowl place garlic and chili. Squeeze in the lime and using a small knife, remove some of the pulp. Add the fish sauce, and water. Mix well, place in a nice bowl, and set aside. Yield: about 3/4 cup