Name: Chả Giò (Vietnamese-Style Egg Rolls)
Cook time: P0Y0M0DT0H45M0.000S
Total time: P0Y0M0DT1H0M0.000S
Yield: 20 egg rolls
Cuisine: asian
Ingredients: 1 pound ground pork (the fattier the better); 1 bundle (about 2 ounce) cellophane noodles, rehydrated according to package directions and coarsely chopped; 1/4 cup finely chopped mushrooms; 1 medium onion, finely grated; 1 carrot, finely grated; 1 teaspoon sesame oil; 1 tablespoon fish sauce; 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt; 1 tablespoon sugar; One 12-ounce package egg roll wrappers (see above); 2 quarts oil for frying; Lettuce leaves, mint leaves and cilantro for serving; Nước Mắm Chấm (recipe follows) or sweet Thai chili sauce, for serving; 3 garlic cloves; 1 to 2 Thai chiles; 1/2 cup sugar (palm sugar if you have it); 1/2 cup lime juice; 1/2 cup fish sauce

Directions

Special equipment:

a mortar and pestle (for the Nước Mắm Chấm)

In a large bowl, combine the pork, noodles, mushrooms, onion, carrot, sesame oil, fish sauce, salt and sugar and gently fold together to combine. If you’d like to check and adjust the seasoning, fry a little patty of the mixture in a pan before proceeding (optional). 
On a flat surface, lay out one egg roll wrapper with a corner pointed toward you. Place 2 generous tablespoons of the filling about 2 inches above the corner. Fold the corner up over the mixture. Fold left and right corners toward the center and continue to roll. Brush a bit of water on the final corner to help seal the egg roll. Repeat with the remaining egg roll wrappers. 
Add the oil to a deep pot set over high heat. Let heat to about 365 degrees F, until the oil begins to bubble around the edges but before it starts to smoke.
Add as many egg rolls as you can without crowding the pot. Use tongs, chopsticks or a spider to turn them occasionally in the oil until they’re golden brown on all sides. Once evenly brown, around 2 to 3 minutes, remove the egg rolls to a paper towel-lined plate to drain. Repeat with remaining egg rolls, and serve with lettuce, mint and cilantro for wrapping and Nước Mắm Chấm sauce for dipping.

Nước Mắm Chấm:

In a mortar and pestle, crush garlic and chiles together into a paste. Add sugar, lime juice and fish sauce and dissolve. Serve with egg rolls.

Cook’s Note

Cooking Class: If you’re making egg rolls in advance to freeze and store before frying, wheat-based wrappers work the best. But whatever wrappers you get, even if they’re made of rice, make sure the package has a picture of fried rolls on the front. I like the Spring Home brand, which labels their wrappers as “spring roll pastry.” Make it Đặc Biệt: For crunchy, gluten-free wrappers I love bánh tráng rế, which are made of rice and shaped like a net. They’re kind of hard to find, so when I spot them in an Asian market I clear the shelves. Any chef I’ve ever served these egg rolls to say they’re the best they’ve ever had. And the only difference is the wrapper; I always use the same filling.  Một, Hai, Ba, Dzô!: Pair with a spicy tamarind margarita. Sweet, savory, earthy and salty, just like these rolls. 

Adapted from “Đặc Biệt: An Extra-Special Vietnamese Cookbook” by Nini Nguyen. Copyright © 2024. Reprinted by permission of Knopf Cooks, an imprint of Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House, LLC.