Vietnamese Spring Rolls (Cha Gio/Nem Ran)



Hello everyone, I am glad to be back! Sorry for being MIA for more than a year, I had to pursue graduate studies and was away from my kitchen for the year 2012 (haha funny - I was AFK, gamers will get it), but I am back for good and I hope you guys missed me as much I missed my kitchen.

When I was in graduate school, I've met people from all over the world and they have inspired me to try a variety of different dishes. Try - meaning I plan to create my own version of it, not taking away the essential flavors but adding a touch of Filipino taste in it. The first on my list is Vietnamese Spring Rolls , as inspired by my lovely friend Sinh from Hanoi who now lives in Pittsburgh. (Hi Sinh!)

I've tried different versions of this on Vietnamese restaurants around Seattle and it was because Sinh made some a week before (and then sent mouth-watering pics), that pushed me to finally try making it. If you are Filipino and you know how to make killer lumpiang shanghai, then you should definitely try this. Now I think I won't order this again when I go to a Vietnamese restaurant (see I have this thing when I order only the things I can't cook, makes sense right?).
What you need: - 1 lb ground beef (may use ground pork or ground chicken)
- 1 lb shrimp, chopped
- 1 large white onion, chopped
- 2 carrots, chopped or shredded
- 1 cup Tree Mushrooms (Tengang Daga), soaked in warm water for 30 minutes, and then
chopped
- 1/2 cup flour
- 1 small portion of bean thread/cellophane noodles (sotanghon), soaked in warm water for
30 minutes and then chopped
- Dash of salt, pepper and garlic powder
- 1 package Menlo spring roll wrapper (50 pieces)
- Paste made with 1 tbsp. cornstarch dissolved in 1/3 cup of water, microwaved for 30
seconds
- 1 Butter or Romain lettuce
*Optional:
- Filipino Magic Sarap Seasoning (1 small pack)
- few drops of Knorr Seasoning

Fish Sauce Dip:
- around 1/8 cup water
- 2 tbsp. fish sauce (Patis)
- 1 calamansi or key lime, squeezed
- 1 tsp. maple syrup or 1 tsp. brown sugar
- some julienned carrots (around 1 tsp)
- around 1/2 tsp. chili oil

How it's done:
Mix ground beef, ground shrimp, chopped vegetables, noodles, flour and seasonings together. As I have mentioned before, the best mixing tool for these kinds of recipes are your hands, so don't be afraid to get a little dirty!

Prepare your working station, see my Lumpiang Shanghai blog for more details. For this recipe, I didn't cut the wrappers in half as you should be putting a hefty amount of mixture inside the wrapper.

Place a heaping spoonful of mixture on 1 wrapper and roll. Start tight, finish tight. Seal with cornstarch paste.

This recipe yields around 50 pieces of spring rolls. Heat up your frier and deep-fry. Serve with lettuce and fish sauce dip.Kam's Tips:
You can save uncooked spring rolls in the freezer for next time :)
The mini-chopper is your friend! Makes chopping vegetables so easy.

Comments

  1. Hi Kam, love the way you create your own version, mixing with Filipino flavors. Gotta meet you to eat them woaww. From Sinh with love :*

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment