Cha Gio (Southern Vietnamese Crispy Rice Paper Spring Rolls)

Name: Cha Gio (Southern Vietnamese Crispy Rice Paper Spring Rolls)
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 50 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Vietnamese
Ingredients: ground pork 250 g; glass noodles 60 g; carrot 80 g; onion 100 g; egg 1 ea; fish sauce 1 tbsp; black pepper 0.5 tsp; rice paper 12 pcs; cooking oil 700 ml

Quick answer

Total time: 50 min
Level: Medium
Servings: 4 servings
Ingredients: 9

About this dish

Rice paper rather than a wheat wrapper sets these southern Vietnamese rolls apart: it fries into a thin, blistered shell that shatters more sharply than a Chinese egg roll.

Rolling tension matters, since a loose roll bursts in the oil and an overly tight one squeezes the pork and glass noodle filling into a hard core. In the south, families gather around Tet to roll them by the hundreds.

Ingredients

servings

IngredientAmount

egg1 ea

rice paper12 pcs

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Instructions

6 steps

1

Soak 60g glass noodles in warm water for 15 minutes, then chop into 1cm pieces.

Finely mince 80g carrot and 100g onion and pat dry.
2

Combine 250g pork, prepared vegetables, noodles, 1 egg, 1 tbsp fish sauce, and 0.5 tsp pepper in a bowl.

Stir in one direction for 2 minutes until the mixture feels sticky and cohesive.
3

Dip 1 sheet of rice paper in lukewarm water for 5-7 seconds until just pliable and translucent.

Place about 30g filling near the bottom edge, fold in the sides, then roll tightly with no air pockets.
4

Heat 700ml cooking oil to 160C.

Add rolls without overcrowding and first-fry over medium heat for 5 minutes until cooked through. Remove and rest on a wire rack for 3 minutes to drain and cool.
5

Raise oil temperature to 180C.

Return the cooled rolls and second-fry for 1-2 minutes until the skin turns deep golden brown.
6

Drain the fried rolls thoroughly on a wire rack or paper towels.

Serve immediately while the wrappers are firm and sound crisp when tapped.