Vietnamese Egg Rolls

27 September 2015

(Makes 35)

Happy Mid-Autumn Festival everyone! I loved this holiday growing up. We would play outside with glowing lanterns, drinking tea and enjoying some mooncake as we marvel at the full moon. I’ve been having a craving for some crunchy fried Vietnamese egg rolls lately and just finally found a nice chunk of time to make it. Little Evie was kind enough to take a three-hour nap, giving me plenty of time to prep, cook and clean up! This recipe is for about 35 eggrolls but I usually double or even triple the batch to make extra to stuff in the freezer and break out whenever I only want a few as a snack or appetizer. This freezes really well, and no need to defrost. Just pop it right into the hot oil and it will come out crispy and savory like you’ve just wrapped it.

There are so many ways to eat eggrolls. You can just eat it as an appetizer on it’s own, or in a lettuce-herb wrap with some dipping sauce, or cut up in a bowl filled with fresh veggies and vermicelli noodles and topped with fish sauce! As I like to say, pick your poison… When I use to make this at the home with my mom few make it past the cooling stage. With four kids plus whoever’s around, eggrolls just tend to disappear before they make it to the table. It’s usually a go-to item for parties since you can make it a day in advance and just fry it as needed the day of the event.

Traditionally, eggrolls are made with pork but now there are a wide variety of different types of fillings. Pork is still my all-time favorite but maybe in the near future I will post a different eggroll filling for your enjoyment. I hope you guys like this dish, until next time! Enjoy the full moon!

1 oz black fungus, dried strips	1. Soak separately in hot water until it completely softens (about 30 mins). 2. Drain and rinse and set aside.
1.5 oz bean thread, dried and broken into small 1/2 inch pieces
2 lbs ground pork	3. In a large mixing bowl, mix all ingredients including the bean thread and fungus together until well incorporated. (NOTE: You can pan fry a tablespoon of the filling and taste to see if you need to adjust the seasoning.)
3/4 cup scallions, chopped
1 3/4 cup carrots, shredded
1/2 cup Chinese chives, chopped
1/2 cup yellow onion, chopped
1 tbsp salt
2 tsp black pepper
1.5 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp msg (optional)
2 tbsps fish sauce
Eggroll wrappers	4. Gently peel the wrappers and place it to look like a diamond facing you on a flat surface. 5. Spoon a little more than 1/8 cup of pork mix onto the wrapper about 3.5 inches from the tip of the wrapper closes to you and round it out like a log. 6. On the opposite tip, wet with water using your forefinger or a brush. (This will help seal the eggroll once wrapped. 7. First fold the tip closes to you over the pork and roll until you meet the left and right corners. 8. Firmly and tightly fold the two corners over the wrap and continue to roll until you reach the furthest corner. 9. Seal the roll with a little more water if needed to make the end corner stick. 10. Repeat until you run out of the pork mix. (Note: This should wrap about 35 rolls depending on how much of the pork mix you use in each roll.)
Water
Peanut oil	11. In a deep frying pot heat about 2 inches of peanut oil on medium high heat. 12. Gently drop the eggrolls into the oil being careful not to overcrowd the pot. (NOTE: If the pot is overcrowded the eggrolls will come out soggy instead of crunchy) 13. Fry the eggrolls for about 10 mins depending on the amount of meat you used (the more meat the longer it will take to fry) or until almost golden brown. 14. Remove and place on a cooling rack to allow the eggrolls to cool. (Note: This helps keep the eggrolls crispy by allowing the excess oil to drip onto the pan and cool evenly on all sides. Also, the eggrolls will darken a little more while cooling so you should remove it a little bit before golden brown or else it will look slightly overcooked once cooled.)

Lime Fish Sauce Dipping Sauce (makes 3 cups)
1 cup simple syrup	1. Mix together well. (Keeps in the refrigerator for a couple of weeks.)
1/2 cup fish sauce
1/4 cup water
2 cup fresh lime juice
3 tbsps garlic, minced
2-4 thai chili, minced
1/2 jalapeño, minced