Let me share one of my most treasured childhood dishes – Vietnamese spring rolls, Chả giò, a popular Vietnamese street food that’s commonly eaten with cold vermicelli noodle salads or as a hand roll with fish sauce. It’s very easy to make but it’s definitely a labour of love! While these take some time to prepare, I promise the result is absolutely worth it, and I’ll show you all my tips for making them perfectly! I highly recommend you make a big batch and freeze.

Why This Recipe Works

These spring rolls achieve the perfect balance of textures and flavors through a careful combination of ingredients. The mix of fatty pork, crunchy vegetables, and delicate noodles creates layers of texture, while proper moisture control ensures that perfect crispy exterior.

Understanding Key Components

Most of the ingredients are definitely not commonly seen in your normal grocery stores, so I highly suggest you make a trip to your Asian supermarket (even better if it’s a Vietnamese grocer)!

1. Pork: The foundation of these spring rolls relies heavily on choosing the right meat and preparing it properly. Traditional pork mince with a higher fat content ensures juicy, flavorful rolls that don’t dry out during frying. The fat content also helps bind the filling together, creating a cohesive mixture that’s easy to wrap and stays together during cooking. You can substitute for chicken if you can’t eat pork.
2. Jicama: it’s a root vegetable that’s commonly used in Vietnamese cuisine. It’s sweet and crisp. You can find it in the frozen section of your Asian (more specifically Vietnamese) grocery. Use cassava if you cannot find it, this is more easily source in Chinese grocery stores.
3. Woodear Mushroom: it comes dried and you need to rehydrate it with hot water for around 5-10 minutes. It’s crunchy and delicious, add a nice textural element to the spring rolls.
4. Filling: you need your filling mixture to be really dry, otherwise it will be soggy when you fry it. To prevent this from happening, you will need to squeeze out all the water and moisture from your veggies. So julienne them and then use a cheese cloth or paper towel to squeeze them.
5. Cellophane noodles: you only need to blanche this for 10 seconds! It should still feel uncooked. Its purpose is to soak up any leftover moisture of your filling mixture.

Tips

• Keep wrapped rolls covered while working, otherwise they will dry out and won’t fry up properly.
• Don’t overfill wrappers as we don’t want the spring rolls to burst during the fry. Wrap tightly to prevent filling from spilling out.
• Work in batches for even frying so the temperature of the oil doesn’t drop too much. Use thermometer to ensure appropriate frying temperature.
• Take the time to squeeze out all the moisture from your vegetables. We don’t want a soggy spring roll.
• Test-fry one roll first to ensure your filling it seasoned well.
• Let cool slightly before serving

Storage and Make-Ahead Tips

• Filling can be prepared day before and leave refrigerated
• Freeze uncooked rolls up to 2 months
• Store with parchment between layers to prevent sticking
• Label with date and quantity

Remember: While these take time to prepare, they’re perfect for making in large batches and freezing. I always make extra – they’re lifesavers for quick meals!

How to eat!

Hand Rolls

1. Northern Style: Get a piece of rice paper (there are 2 types: one where you have to soak it in water and one you can eat it dry – get the dry one. It’s called “Bánh tráng không nhúng nước” in Vietnamese). To your piece of rice paper, add a piece of lettuce, some vermicelli, carrot, cucumber coriander, Vietnamese mint and a spring roll. Roll it all up and dip it in some fish sauce.
2. Southern Style: same thing but without the rice paper. Use lettuce to wrap everything instead.

How to eat – continued!

3. Cold Vermicelli Salad bowl:

This method is a little bit more carb heavy. Add a decent amount of vermicelli noodles to the bottom of your bowl and top with lettuce, herbs, carrot, cucumber and chopped up spring rolls. Dress with fish sauce and mix well.

4. Or just enjoy them on its own!