Fried spring rolls at home

In our cooking class at the Vietnam Cookery Center in Ho Chi Minh City, fried spring rolls (cha gio) were the first course. If you're making a small batch, they're not particularly time-consuming, and the ingredients can be adapted to your taste. We made them at home following the recipe, but will probably modify it the next time, depending on what's available.

Here's what the recipe calls for:

40g minced pork 60g crab meat 30g dried wood-ear mushrooms, soaked and minced 80g minced, raw shrimp 80g shredded taro (or sweet potato or potato) 1 tsp chicken powder 2 tsp sugar 1 tsp pepper 2 tsp minced shallot 2 tsp chopped spring onion 4 tsp egg yolk

14-15 spring roll wrappers (We tried to find the net variety without luck, but regular wrappers work fine. Make sure you check the expiration date; rancid wrappers are disgusting!) Coconut water, or beer with a pinch of sugar, or water with a pinch of sugar, to dip the wrappers in for softening. Vegetable oil for frying (such as soy or sunflower oil. We used peanut oil. Grapeseed oil would also work..)

Mix together the filling ingredients, then roll them up in the wrappers. There's a decent video here that shows the rolling process. If you don't have a deep fryer (we don't), heat about an inch of oil in a deep frying pan over medium heat. You don't want the oil to get too hot or you will char the outside of the roll before the filling is cooked through. Fry your rolls, turning them occasionally, until they are golden, then drain them on paper towels. Traditionally, you would cut the rolls in halves or thirds and eat them rolled up in lettuce leaves with rice noodles and herbs. But we like them simply dipped in fish sauce:

• 2 Tbs fish sauce
  
• 2 Tbs sugar
  
• 1.5 Tbs lemon juice
  
• 1 tsp minced garlic
  
• 1/2 tsp (or more if you like) minced chiles

Yum!