Cha gio

Name: Cha gio (Finger-size spring rolls)
Yield: Serves four
Cuisine: Vietamese
Ingredients: 50 g (2 oz) bean thread vermicelli; 100 g (3 oz) green prawns, peeled and finely chopped; 100 g (3 oz) canned or fresh crab meat; 200 g (7 oz) pork mince; 200 g (7 oz) chicken mince; 1 tbsp fish sauce (nuoc mam); 4 shallots, finely chopped; 2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped; 2 tbsp dried wood ear fungus, soaked for 1 hour and shredded; 1 tbsp sugar; 1 tbsp white vinegar; 4 cups warm water; ½ tsp white pepper; 1 tbsp cornflour mixed with 1 tbsp cold water; peanut oil, for deep frying; 30 small rounds rice paper (banh trang); 1 tbsp cornflour mixed with 1 tbsp cold water; 1 bunch Asian basil or common mint; 1 bunch Asian basil or common mint; leaves from iceberg lettuce, roughly torn; leaves from iceberg lettuce, roughly torn; 1 bunch Vietnamese mint (rau ram); 1 quantity nuoc cham

Finger-size spring rolls

Preparation info

Serves
four

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

Noodle

By Terry Durack

Published 2002

About

What makes this dish special is the way it is eaten. The crisp, deep-fried rolls are wrapped with fresh herbs and lettuce leaves, then dipped in sweet/ sour/spicy nuoc cham sauce. Textures and flavours dash about the mouth like excited schoolchildren.

Ingredients

50 g (2 oz) bean thread vermicelli
200 g (7

Asia
Vietnam
Main course
Gluten-free

Method

Soak noodles in boiling water for 3 to 4 minutes, rinse in cold water, drain and cut into roughly 6 cm (2 ½ in) lengths.

In a bowl, combine meats, crab, prawn, fungus, noodles, garlic, shallot, fish sauce and pepper.

Combine warm water with vinegar and sugar in a bowl and soak each rice paper until soft and pliable. Drain on a dry tea-towel and repeat the process.

Take a