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Shows two plates of Vietnamese egg rolls, cha gio and a side of hot sauce and chopsticks.
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Chả Giò (Vietnamese Egg Rolls).

Ground pork, vermicelli noodles, dried mushrooms, shredded jicama, carrots and garlic wrapped up in a pastry-like wrapper and deep fried.
Prep Time10 minutes
Cook Time2 hours
Course: Appetizer, Main Course, Side Dish, Snack
Cuisine: Vietnamese
Keyword: Easy, crunchy homemade pork egg rolls.
Servings: 25

Equipment

  • Deep fry thermometer
  • Long cooking chopsticks
  • Cooling rack
  • Food processor

Ingredients

  • 4 pounds ground pork
  • 3 bulbs garlic finely diced.
  • 3 medium carrots finely shredded.
  • 1 medium jicama finely shredded squeezed to remove water.
  • 60 grams vermicelli noodles soaked in water to soften then cut to medium length.
  • 20 grams dried mushrooms soaked in water to soften then coarsely cut.
  • 2 packages egg roll wrapper defrost on a plate and cover with a damp towel to prevent the wrapper from drying making it hard to roll.
  • 1 tbsp butter melted or beaten egg to seal the wrapper.
  • 1.5 tbsp salt
  • 1.5 tbsp pepper
  • 96 fl oz vegetable oil for frying.

Instructions

Instructions for preparing the ingredients:

  • Finely chop the garlic; shred the carrots; shred the jicama and squeeze the juice out of the jicama.
  • Soak the vermicelli noodles in water until it softens (about 8 mins).   Then discard the water, cut the noodles in half.
    Cutting of the vermicelli noodles after it gets soaked
  • Soak the dried mushrooms in water until it softens (about 8 mins).   Then discard the water and give the mushroom a rough chop.
    Cutting of the soaked dried mushrooms for the egg roll making
  • Beat the egg or melt the butter, then set aside.
  • Place the ground pork in a large bowl, add to the meat the salt, pepper and garlic. Mix well to combine.
    Ground pork with garlic, salt and pepper for Vietnamese egg rolls
  • Then add the shredded jicama (with water squeezed out), shredded carrot, vermicelli noodles and mushrooms, .  Mix well to combine all the ingredients.
    Meat vermicelli dried mushrooms, shredded carrots and jicama mixed together for the egg roll filling

Instructions for rolling the egg rolls:

  • Lay one egg roll wrapper flat on a plate or the counter so that one of the pointy sides is pointing towards you.
  • Place 1 tablespoon of the meat and veggies mixture on one corner of the wrapper.
  • Start rolling by pulling the pointy side containing the meat mixture up and roll it forward and tucking the wrapper underneath the meat mixture.
    step 3 of egg roll wrapping
  • Fold in the right side...
    step 4 of egg roll wrapping
  • Then fold in the left side of the wrapper. 
  • Continue rolling forward stopping just before reaching the other corner of the wrapper.  Take a brush and place a small amount of butter or beaten egg at the corner of the wrapper, then continue rolling forward until all the wrapper has been used.
    step 6 of egg roll wrapping
  • Once rolled, set it aside on a tray covered up with a towel to prevent the pastry from drying out.
    tray with uncooked egg rolls
  • Repeat steps 6-9 until all the meat and veggies mixture is used up.  One package of egg roll wrapper will make 25 egg rolls. 

Instructions for frying the egg rolls:

  • Heat up vegetable oil (350-375oF) and carefully place the egg roll in the oil (away from you) and fry until golden brown, then remove and let cool on a drying rack.  Repeat until all the egg rolls have been fried...and ta da...you have fresh homemade egg rolls. Enjoy.
    Cha gio, Vietnamese egg rolls on a rack to cool down after frying