August 20, 2016

Vietnamese Deep Fry Spring Rolls Cah Gio 越南炸春捲

Vietnamese, Deep Fry, Spring Rolls,  rice paper, Cah Gio,  recipe, imperial roll, 越南, 炸春捲
By Published: 2016-08-20
I have a weakness for spring rolls. Well, only the fresh ones.  And, really, who wouldn't?  When freshly deep fried spring rolls are crunchy on the outside, hot and tasty on the inside treats are so gosh darn it yummilicious!  Whenever we go to have dim sum I always just have to get a dish or two of the spring rolls.  

Since we have started (finally!) to deep fry at home for ourselves (which has turned out to both easier and more fun than we had imagined,) we naturally very quickly thought of making some spring rolls!  These are our homemade spring rolls, the Vietnamese Deep Fry Spring Rolls, also known as Imperial Rolls, Cha Gio, or 越南炸春捲, a very tasty tidbit indeed, juicy meat and veg bits all wrapped in rice paper and deep fried til super crunchy on the outside and flavorsome on the inside.  And it's pretty easy to make these!

Vietnamese, Deep Fry, Spring Rolls,  Cah Gio,  recipe, imperial roll, 越南, 炸春捲

The main difference with these spring rolls is that they are made with rice wrappers.  I love these rice paper wrappers which are basically just made from rice flour and water.  These wrappers are cheap and really easy to use.  Just soak in cool water for a wee bit and then they're ready to use.  

These can be used for both the fresh vietnamese spring rolls (not deep fried) which are beautifully transparent as well as delicious and the deep fried spring rolls we are making here.  Very versatile.  You can find these in the vietnamese section of your asian grocery store.

Vietnamese, Deep Fry, Spring Rolls,  Cah Gio,  recipe, imperial roll, 越南, 炸春捲

For the filling of your spring rolls you can get as creative as you like.  Usually for these vietnamese spring rolls it's a mixture of pork, fresh shrimp, glass noodles and some vegetables.  Just make sure all the bits are sliced up small enough to cram into your spring roll and of a proper size that everything will be cooked at the same time.  Which basically means chop up everything really small!

Vietnamese, Deep Fry, Spring Rolls,  Cah Gio,  recipe, imperial roll, 越南, 炸春捲

The folding of the spring roll is pretty easy.  You just place your filling close to the bottom edge, then fold that bottom edge up.   Use your fingers to delicately push and tuck the filling in tight, being careful not to break the delicate rice wrapper.

Vietnamese, Deep Fry, Spring Rolls,  Cah Gio,  recipe, imperial roll, 越南, 炸春捲

 Now just fold over the two side flaps of rice paper, tuck in the filling a bit more and roll her up tight!   Ta-da!  Spring roll done, easy peasy!  Place your rolled spring rolls on a plate moistened with a bit of water to prevent sticking and cover with a wet cloth until you finish wrapping and rolling up the rest.

Oh my gosh, these Vietnamese Deep Fried Spring Rolls are so good!   Hot and fresh from the oil, the crunch is amazing and the flavors inside just burst on to your tongue in juicy contrast.  We like to have these as a side dish to go with a yummilicious bowl of Vietnamese Beef Vermicelli Noodles, or just by themselves as a most awesome crunchilicious snack!

Vietnamese, Deep Fry, Spring Rolls,  Cah Gio,  recipe, imperial roll, 越南, 炸春捲
Vietnamese Deep Fry Spring Rolls  Cah Gio  Recipe 越南炸春捲
Prep time: Cook time: (makes 20 rolls, adapted from The Asian Kitchen, see our cookbook review)

Ingredients

   For the Filling

Directions:

For the filling, first soak glass cellophane noodles in hot water for 20 mins, or until the noodles are quite pliable.  Remove from water and slice into 1" lengths.

Peel, de-vein and roughly chop the shrimps.

Soak wood ear fungus in room temperature water for about 10 mins until soft, then cut off the hard bits in the center of each fungus and slice the rest into matchstick about 1" in length.

Mince the onion and then squeeze out the juice until quite dry.

Add all the ingredients for the filling together in large bowl and stir to combine well.  

To make the spring rolls, prepare a shallow bowl filled with 1/2" of room temperature water.  Slide one rice wrapper in at a time, pressing down into the water and letting it soak for 10-15 secs or until the wrapper is soft.  Remove and place flat onto your working surface.  

Spoon out 1 heaping tbsp full of the filling onto the bottom side of the wrapper.  Fold up the bottom 1" of the wrapper over the filling, then snugly fold over the two sides as well so that the bottom and two sides form a nice rectangular shape. Tuck in the filling with your fingers carefully and then roll up snug and tight.  Place wrapped spring roll on a plate, cover with a wet cloth and proceed to wrap up all the filling in the same manner.

Pour 2-3" of oil in to a small pot and heat to around 350°F (180C).  Fry the spring rolls a few at a time for approx 5 mins until golden brown all over.  Remove and let drain on paper towels.

Serve hot with bowl of vienamese fish sauce for dipping and fresh basil and mint as accompaniment.  Crispy, crunchy, flavorsome joy!

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6 comments:

  1. The link to your fish sauce recipe is a dead end. :(

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  2. hi Ellen, thqnks for this. One question though: you don't cook the pork meat before frying, just add it to the mix?

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    Replies
    1. Hey - no need to cook pork first, it will cook as you fry the spring roll! ~ellen

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  3. Can you freeze the spring rolls once they are rolled up?

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    Replies
    1. Hi Faye - yes, you can freeze the wrapped up rolls. Or you can fry them and then freeze. When you want to eat them, no need to defrost, just fry 'em frozen. ~ellen

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