Shatter-Crisp Vietnamese Fried Egg Rolls (Cha Gio)

By Sprig Originals ✓ · cooked up in Sprig

The Vietnamese restaurant appetizer worth the oil splatter: pork, shrimp, wood ear and glass noodles rolled tight and fried twice so the shell blisters instead of softening. We walk you through both wrapper camps — traditional rice paper for that glassy, bubbled crust, or wheat spring roll wrappers for a forgiving, bakery-flaky crunch — then send them to the table with butter lettuce, a pile of herbs and a bowl of nuoc cham for wrapping and dunking.

Ingredients

• 1 lb ground pork (shoulder, not lean)
• 8 oz raw shrimp, peeled and chopped into 1/4-inch pieces
• 2 oz dried bean thread (glass) noodles
• 1/2 oz dried wood ear mushrooms
• 1 cup peeled jicama or carrot, coarsely grated
• 3 shallots, minced
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 scallions, thinly sliced
• 1 large egg
• 2 tbsp fish sauce
• 1 tsp sugar
• 3/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt

• 24 8-inch round thin rice paper wrappers (banh trang) — the traditional choice
• 24 8-inch square wheat spring roll wrappers, thawed — the easy choice
• 1 tbsp sugar, dissolved in 1 cup warm water (for softening rice paper)
• 1 tbsp cornstarch mixed with 2 tbsp water (for sealing wheat wrappers)
• 6 cups neutral oil for frying, such as canola or peanut

• 1/4 cup fish sauce
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 3/4 cup warm water
• 3 tbsp fresh lime juice
• 1 garlic clove, finely minced
• 1 Thai chile, thinly sliced
• 2 tbsp finely shredded carrot

• 1 head butter or red leaf lettuce, leaves separated
• 1 cup fresh mint leaves
• 1 cup fresh cilantro sprigs
• 1/2 cup Thai basil or perilla leaves
• 1 Persian cucumber, cut into thin spears
• 4 oz rice vermicelli, cooked and cooled (optional)

Instructions

1. Make the nuoc cham first so it has time to mellow: stir the sugar into the warm water until fully dissolved, then add the fish sauce, lime juice, garlic, chile and shredded carrot. Taste — it should be brightly salty-sour with a clear sweet edge. Refrigerate until serving.
2. Soak the wood ear mushrooms in hot tap water for 20 minutes until fully pliable, and soak the bean thread noodles in warm water for 10 minutes until floppy but still firm. Drain both. Trim any hard nubs from the mushrooms, then chop them into 1/8-inch pieces. Cut the noodles into 1-inch lengths with scissors — long strands make rolls impossible to bite through.
3. Squeeze the grated jicama or carrot hard in a clean towel to wring out as much liquid as you can. Wet filling equals steam, and steam blows out wrappers in hot oil.
4. In a large bowl, combine the ground pork, chopped shrimp, wood ear, cut noodles, squeezed jicama, shallots, garlic, scallions, egg, fish sauce, 1 tsp sugar, black pepper and salt. Mix with your hand for about 1 minute, just until cohesive and slightly tacky — overworking makes the filling rubbery.
5. Taste-test the seasoning: fry a teaspoon of filling in a dry skillet over medium heat for 2 minutes per side and adjust salt or pepper. Then chill the filling for 20 minutes; cold filling is much easier to roll.
6. IF USING RICE PAPER (the classic, glassiest result): pour the sugar water into a wide dish. Dip one wrapper for 2 to 3 seconds — pull it out while it still feels slightly stiff, then let it finish softening on a damp kitchen towel for 20 seconds. The sugar helps it blister and brown.
7. IF USING WHEAT WRAPPERS (faster and more forgiving): peel off one square and set it on the counter as a diamond, keeping the rest under a damp towel so they don't dry out. These need no soaking and won't tear or stick to each other in the fryer.
8. Roll each one the same way: place 2 tablespoons of filling in a 3-inch log across the lower third of the wrapper. Fold the bottom edge up and over the filling and press to compact it, fold both sides in tightly, then roll up snugly. Seal the final edge with a dab of sugar water (rice paper) or cornstarch slurry (wheat). Finished rolls should be firm, about 4 inches long and 1 inch thick, with no air pockets.
9. Arrange finished rolls on a parchment-lined tray, not touching — rice paper rolls will fuse permanently if they touch. You should have about 24.
10. FIRST FRY: heat 2 inches of oil in a Dutch oven or deep skillet to 325°F (use 350°F for wheat wrappers). Fry in batches of 5 or 6, seam side down, keeping rolls separated with tongs for the first 30 seconds. Fry rice paper rolls 6 to 7 minutes and wheat rolls 4 minutes, turning occasionally, until pale golden, firm and cooked through. Drain on a rack.
11. Rest the rolls at least 15 minutes and up to 3 hours at room temperature. This pause lets the interior steam escape and sets the shell — it's the whole reason a two-stage fry stays crisp on the table instead of going leathery in five minutes.
12. SECOND FRY: raise the oil to 375°F. Return the rolls in batches and fry 2 to 3 minutes, until deep golden and covered in tiny blisters. Rice paper rolls will crackle and bubble dramatically; wheat rolls will turn flaky and mottled. Drain on a rack, not paper towels.
13. Pile the lettuce, mint, cilantro, Thai basil, cucumber and optional vermicelli on a platter. Cut the rolls in half on a diagonal if you like.
14. To eat, lay a roll (or half) in a lettuce leaf with a few herbs and a cucumber spear, wrap it up, and dip generously into the nuoc cham. Serve immediately — the second fry buys you about 20 minutes of real crunch.

Chef's tips

Nutrition (per serving, estimated)

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