Vietnamese Spring Rolls (Cha Gio)

I guess if you happen to venture to a Vietnamese restaurant for a meal you would definitely order their fresh Vietnamese rolls. The fried version of this is called Cha Gio which does resemble the Chinese fried spring rolls. Cha gio comes in many different sizes and can be made with spring roll wrappers or rice paper. Traditionally, rice paper is used in Vietnam to make this rolls and you would likely find the filling to be made from pork, shrimps and crab meat. This is a really simple dish to make and makes for a delicious tea-time snack or an appertizer to a main meal.



Vietnamese Spring Rolls (Cha Gio)
Serves 4 - 5

Ingredients:

200g minced pork
150g medium prawns, de-shelled/deveined and minced
1/2 cup shredded carrots
50g mung bean noodles/cellophane noodles/glass noodles – soaked in hot water for 30 minutes or until they turn very soft, cut into 3" length
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 shallot, minced
2 pieces fungus ear, soaked until soft and sliced thinly (can be replaced with 6pieces shitake mushroom, thinly sliced)
1 1/4 tsp fish sauce
1/2 Tbsp oyster sauce
1/2 tsp sesame oil
1/4 tsp white pepper
2 Tbsp roughly chopped coriander leaves
Vietnamese rice paper

Method:

1) Place all ingredients into a bowl and mixed well. Leave in the refrigerator for about an hour before using.

2) Place some warm water into a large shallow plate. Set aside a clean dry kitchen towel on a flat surface. Quickly dip a rice paper into the water and place on top of the kitchen towel. Place 1 heaped tablespoon of the filling on the bottom 1/3 of the roll. Fold the bottom part of the rice paper over the filling. Then tuck in the sides, then roll to form a cyclinder about 3 inches long. Lightly dampened the edges to ensure that the roll is properly sealed.

3) Heat oil over medium heat in a wok or a large frying pan. When the oil is hot, gently place a few of the rolls into the oil Do not over crowd. Fry slowly until the rolls turn golden brown. Dish out and drain the excess oil by lining them over some paper towels.

4) Serve immediately with a chilli dip and fresh herbs.

5) To make the dip, minced 3 fresh red chillies and 3 cloves of garlic finely. In a bowl add 1/3 cup white vinegar and sugar to taste. Add in the minced chillie and garlic and set aside for about 15 minutes before using.

Hue Shrimp and Vegetable Pancakes

I was extremely elated over the weekend when I received an email from Astrid of Paulchens FoodBlog advising that I was one of the winners of DMBLGIT October 2009 in the "Edibility" category. I never for the life of me expected this at all especially when there were so many other beautifully styled photographs. Anyway I would like to congratulate the rest of the other winners on their well-deserved win! Okey ... now back to my post proper.

We discovered this amazingly simple but absolutely delicious dish during our trip to Hanoi in September. This particular shop, extremely narrow and tucked between a bakery and a bicycle repair shop, serves only Hue pancakes and nothing else! I discovered later that Hue pancakes originate from a province in central Vietnam called Hue (it would seem like a national dish to me if it's named after a place) and is considered the fulcrum of Vietnam's rice planting region - the Red River Delta and the Mekong Delta. Hue food tends to be spicier than most regions in Vietnam and you'll also get lots of seafood since this area is located near the sea.




The pancakes are made from rice flour with egg. A small amount of batter is then spread over a shallow pan to produce a very thin crepe. This is then cooked over a high heat until the bottom of the crepe is crispy and golden brown. Toppings are then spread over the top during the cooking process. To eat the pancakes, you would take a thin dry rice paper, put some herbs such as mint and basil, on the rice paper and then top it with a small piece of the pancake. You then roll the whole thing up like a spring roll. The roll is then dipped into a vinegratte sauce. I was extremely surprised that the rice paper used was the thinnest I have ever seen. You cannot image how delicious this was ... it was so good that we ate it for 3 days in a row!

Hue Shrimp and Vegetable Pancakes (Banh Khoai)
Recipe from "The Food of Vietnam" by Trieu Thi Choi & Marcel Isaak
Serves 4

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cups (150g) rice flour
1 1/4 cups (310ml) water
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
2 Tbsp oil
1/2 cup (40g) straw mushrooms
8 fresh medium shrimp (200g), poached for 30 seconds until just cooked, peeled and deveined
1 cup (50g) bean sprouts
2 spring onions, sliced
1 fresh chilli, thinly sliced
Fish Sauce Dip, for dipping

Method:

1) Mix the rice flour, water, egg, salt and sugar in a bowl until it becomes a smooth batter. Set aside for 10 mins, then sieve through a wire mesh to remove any lumps.

2) Heat 1 Tbsp of oil in a wok or skillet over hgh heat, turning to grease the sides as well. Add 1/2 cup of the batter and turn the work or skillet to obtain a thin round layer of batter. Top the batter with some straw mushrooms, then cover the work or skillet and pan-fry for about 1 minute, taking care not to scorch the bottom of the pancake.

3) Remove the cover, add some shrimp, bean sprouts, sliced chilli and spring onion on top and continue to pan-fry the pancake until golden brown and crispy. This should take about 2 minutes, depending on your stove's fire. Remove from the heat. Pan-fry all the pancakes in the same manner.

4) Serve the pancakes hot with a bowl of Fish Sauce Dip (Nuoc Mam Cham) (recipe below) on the side and a plate of lettuce leaves and fresh herbs such as basil and mint.




Fish Sauce Dip (Nuoc Mam Cham)
Recipe Yields 1/2 cup

1/4 cup (60ml) water or fresh coconut juice
1 - 2 tsp rice vinegar
3 tsp sugar
1 fresh red chilli, deseeded and minced finely
2 cloves garlic, crushed and minced finely (more if you are a garlic lover)
1 Tbsp freshly squeezed lime juice
2 Tbsp fish sauce

Bring the water or coconut juice, vinegar and sugar to a boil in a saucepan. Remove and set aside to cool. Combine the chilli, garlic and lime juice, mix well and stir in the fish sauce. For a variation, add some grated carror or carrot and radish pickles into the dipping sauce.

Vietnamese Spring Roll (Goi Guon)

If everything goes according to plans I will be visiting Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam later this year .. I'm really keeping my fingers crossed. I've never been there before and a few of my friends who have recently returned from Vietnam have such raving reviews. I can only imagine what they have experienced from watching travel and food documentaries featuring the exotic beauty and vibrancy of this country and it's people. Vietnamese food is also so, so good ... and I'm a sucker for scrumptious meals.

Thus with Vietnam in mind, I decided to make some fresh Vietnamese spring rolls. The beauty of these spring rolls is that you can add just about any ingredients you like. Substitute the shrimp, with sliced chicken or pork, or how about omitting meat or seafood altogether and use fried tofu for a vegetarian version.



Vietnamese Spring Roll (Goi Guon)
(makes 12 rolls)

Ingredients:

12 rice paper rounds (banh trang)
3 oz. rice vermicelli, soaked in hot water for 10 minutes, till soft
24 medium shrimp, unpeeled
1/2 small head green leaf lettuce(about 10-12 leaves)
2 carrots
1 cup bean sprouts
1/4 cup of Thai sweet basil leaves
1/4 cup of mint leaves
1/4 cup of cilantro, chopped into 2" length
3 stalks scallions, cut int 2" length

Method:

1) Bring a pot of water to a boil and cook the unshelled shrimp till pink and opaque, around two to three minutes or so. Fish out the shrimp but keep the water boiling; add the rice noodles and cook for a minute or so. Drain and rinse in cool water.

2) Peel and slice the shrimp in half lengthwise. Remove the black veins.

3) Peel apart the lettuce leaves and tear it roughly. Peel and julienne the carrots.

4) You’ll need a large bowl or pan, big enough to accommodate the rice paper round. Fill with warm water, and soak one wrapper for around a minute or so, until it’s soft and pliable.

5) Lay the wrapper on a plate or other flat surface. You’ll be placing your ingredients in the bottom half of the wrapper – if this is your first time making spring rolls, it’s a good idea to start with smaller quantities of the filing.

6) Begin with a small handful of lettuce in the bottom third of the wrapper, and add an approximately equal amount of rice noodle on top of the lettuce. Top with a neat row of carrots and bean sprout. Next add some of the herb mixture and top off with the sliced scallions.

6) Fold up the bottom, then the two sides; continue rolling up, keeping the wrapper firmly around the ingredients to get a good roll, but be careful not to tug too tightly so as not to tear the wrapper. Just before the last 2 rolls, lay a row of sliced shrimp on the top of the roll, pink side up. Continue to finish rolling the wrapper.

7) Finish off with the rest of the wrappers. Unfortunately, the rolls don’t keep well, so serve them straight away*, with plenty of dipping sauce. If you’re serving them as an appetizer, you can cut the rolls in half using a sharp knife.

*If you absolutely must make them ahead of time, place them in an airtight container lined with damp towel and store at cool room temperature, not in the fridge. These will keep for an hour or two.



Hoisin-Chili Dipping Sauce

Like any salad, Vietnamese spring rolls need a dressing to bring out the fresh flavors of the ingredients. This spicy-sweet sauce makes the perfect dipping sauce to accompany fresh spring rolls.

Ingredients:

1 shallot or 1-2 cloves garlic
1/2 cup hoisin sauce
1 Tbsp rice vinegar
1/4 cup water
2 tsp Asian red chili paste (such as sambal oelek, but any chili paste will do)
2 Tbsp chopped peanuts for garnish

Method:

Stir-fry the minced garlic or shallot for a minute or two, until the garlic is softened. Add the hoisin sauce, rice vinegar and water, and bring to a boil. Add chili paste to taste. Remove from heat, pour in a dipping bowl, and garnish with chopped peanut.