Vietnamese Rice Paper Egg Rolls, also known as Chả Giò. These egg rolls are wrapped in rice paper wrappers. They are crispy on the outside and the rice paper wrapper is also a little chewy on the inside. These are great in lettuce wraps, as a side dish, in Vermicelli Noodle Bowls, or as a snack.
Growing up, my parents' very close friends, the Hoang's were like family to us. My "Ma Yoong" who was a wonderful cook, would dip her rice paper in beer. It makes sense that the alcohol evaporates quickly in the hot oil, leaving the egg rolls crispy. I use water with a splash of canned coconut milk and vinegar. Some people use just water. The coconut milk helps them not stick together for me.
The egg rolls on the top row are made with rice paper wraps after their second fry. The ones in the middle that are golden brown are fried twice with flour spring roll wrappers. The egg rolls in the very bottom row have been fried only once.
For egg rolls wrapped with the flour spring roll wrappers, you can find that post HERE.
Making sure the veggies are as dry as possible. Squeeze as much liquid out as you can. If the filling is too wet, the water can expand in the fryer, and the egg rolls can split.
I use these Spring Roll plates that are like a flat colander. You can also use a dinner plate.
The coconut milk really helps with frying in batches; these won't stick together. I just shake the basket after a minute or two.
Egg Rolls (Updated to include rice paper wrappers)
1 bundle of Bean thread/cellophane noodles
2 pounds ground Pork
2 large carrots
1.5 cups grated taro (optional)
1 medium onion
1 teaspoon onion powder
2 teaspoons garlic powder
2 teaspoons chicken powder
2 teaspoons mushroom powder, unsalted (optional; but very flavorful. I make my own by blending dried mushrooms into a powder)
3 tablespoons oyster sauce
2 eggs
1/3 cup black fungus, soaked in water until soft
1.5 teaspoons Black or white pepper, ground
Rice paper wrappers (see picture)
To dip the rice paper wrappers:
Warm water in a shallow plate like a pie plate
2 tablespoons of canned coconut milk (optional; this helps the wrappers to not stick)
1 tablespoon white vinegar (optional)
Oil for frying
- Soak cellophane noodles in warm water until they are pliable. Then drain very well and cut into approximately one-inch pieces.
- Drain and rinse black fungus, if using. Slice.
- Peel the onion and carrots. Grate them. Then squeeze out as much liquid as you can from them.
- Place all the ingredients into a bowl. Mix to combine ingredients.
- Dip one rice paper wrapper into the water mixture. Just a quick dip. Place on a plate.
- Place about 1-1.5 tablespoons of filling on a wrapper.
- Starting from the bottom, roll up once, covering the filling with the wrapper.
- Fold the two horizontal sides of the wrapper over the egg roll.
- Then keep rolling up.
- Roll the wrapper up and make sure it's sealed. I do two plates at a time. I dip one piece of rice paper and place it on each plate. I wrap one egg roll, dip the next wrapper and place it on the plate so it can soften while I wrap the egg roll on the second plate.
- Fry them in hot oil (320*F ) for 5 minutes. Remove from oil and continue frying the rest of the egg rolls. Then turn the oil up to 375*-390* and fry them for another 4 minutes until they are cooked through. Frying them twice makes them extra crispy. If frying in a basket in bigger batches, shake the basket after a couple of minutes to check if there's enough room in your basket to make sure the oil can fry the egg rolls on all sides.
- Place cooked egg rolls on a cooling rack to drain oil and they stay crispy.
Serve with your favorite sauces, or slice and wrap these up in lettuce with herbs, vegetables, and rice noodles as shown.
- There are so many ways to wrap an egg roll; just make sure it's fairly tight and they are about the same size for even cooking.
- These freeze well with the rice paper wrapper but they need to be fried before freezing.
- Filling- you can add chicken, ground turkey, shrimp, tofu, shredded cabbage, bean sprouts, green onion, etc to this filling. Add what you like.
- These heat up well in an air fryer.
- Two types of wrappers:
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