Cha Gio and Nuoc Cham
Chinese spring roll wrappers are used here instead of the rice papers traditionally used in Vietnam. Cha gio is an immensely popular snack — the vegetable content of the filling can be varied as long as the flavours are complementary.
Ingredients
- 25g / 1oz cellophane noodles soaked for 10 minutes in hot water to cover
- 6-8 dried wood ears, soaked for 30 minutes in warm water to cover
- 225g / 8oz minced pork
- 225g / 8oz fresh or canned crab meat
- 4 spring onions, trimmed and finely chopped
- 5ml / 1 tsp fish sauce
- flour and water paste, to seal
- 250g / 9oz packet spring roll wrappers
- vegetable oil, for deep frying
- salt and ground black pepper
For the nuoc cham sauce:
- 2 fresh red chillies, seeded and pounded to a paste
- 2 garlic cloves, crushed
- 15ml / 1 tbsp sugar
- 45ml / 3 tbsp fish sauce
- juice of 1 lime or ½ lemon
Preparation
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- Make the nuoc cham sauce by mixing the chillies, garlic, sugar and fish sauce in a bowl and stirring in lime or lemon juice to taste. Drain the noodles and snip into 2.5cm / 1in lengths. Drain the wood ears, trim away any rough stems and slice the wood ears finely.
- Mix the noodles and the wood ears with the pork and set aside. Remove any cartilage from the crab meat and add to the pork mixture with the spring onions and fish sauce. Season to taste, mixing well.
- Place a spring roll wrapper in front of you, diamond-fashion. Spoon some mixture just below the centre, fold over the nearest point and roll once.
- Fold in the sides to enclose, then brush the edges with flour paste and roll up to seal. Repeat with the remaining wrappers and filling.
- Heat the oil in a wok or deep fryer to 190°C/375°F. Deep fry the rolls in batches for 8-10 minutes or until they are cooked through. Drain them well on kitchen paper and serve hot. To eat, dip the rolls in the nuoc cham sauce.
COOK'S TIP
Serve the rolls Vietnamese-style by wrapping each roll in a lettuce leaf together with a few sprigs of fresh mint and coriander and a stick of cucumber.
Makes 15.