Spring rolls, also known as cha gio, are a beloved Vietnamese appetizer or snack that can be found in many Southeast Asian cuisines. These crispy, deep-fried rolls are filled with a variety of ingredients, such as pork, shrimp, vegetables, and glass noodles, and served with a dipping sauce. Whether you're a seasoned cook or a beginner in the kitchen, finding the best recipe for crispy spring rolls can be a daunting task. To help you out, we've gathered a collection of the most popular and highly-rated spring roll recipes, so you can easily find the perfect one to satisfy your cravings.
Here are our top 6 tried and tested recipes!
AUTHENTIC VIETNAMESE SPRING ROLLS (NEM RAN HAY CHA GIO)
This is a recipe I learned while traveling through Vietnam. The ingredients are relatively simple and easy to find in any grocery store. I've cooked this a number of times since getting back and it's always been a hit. They taste great with dipping sauce.
Provided by agoldstone
Categories Appetizers and Snacks Wraps and Rolls
Time 1h25m
Yield 12
Number Of Ingredients 12
Steps:
- Soak rice noodles in cold water until soft, about 20 minutes. Drain well; cut into 2-inch long pieces.
- Combine the noodle pieces, chicken, shrimp, eggs, carrot, wood fungus mushrooms, and green onions in a large bowl. Sprinkle in sugar, salt, and black pepper; stir filling mixture well.
- Soak 1 rice paper wrapper in a shallow bowl of warm water to soften, about 15 seconds. Remove from water and place on a damp cloth laid out on a flat surface.
- Place 1 tablespoon of filling mixture into the center of the softened rice paper. Fold the bottom edge into the center, covering the filling. Fold in opposing edges and roll up tightly. Repeat with remaining rice paper wrappers, soaking and filling each one individually.
- Heat oil in a work or large skillet over medium heat.
- Fry the spring rolls in batches of 3 or 4 until crisp and golden brown on both sides, about 5 minutes. Drain on paper towels.
Nutrition Facts : Calories 132.1 calories, Carbohydrate 14.4 g, Cholesterol 44.8 mg, Fat 5.2 g, Fiber 0.7 g, Protein 6.5 g, SaturatedFat 0.9 g, Sodium 225 mg, Sugar 0.6 g
CHA GIO (VIETNAMESE FRIED SPRING ROLLS)
Cha gio, or Vietnamese Fried Spring Rolls, are delicious on their own, or in a noodle salad. Find out how to make them at home with this authentic recipe!
Provided by Bill
Categories Appetizer
Time 2h40m
Number Of Ingredients 18
Steps:
- Soak the dried mung bean noodles in warm water (submerge them completely) for 30 minutes. Drain thoroughly, and cut into ¼ inch pieces.
- In a large bowl, combine the noodles, ground pork, grated carrot, chopped wood ear mushrooms, shallots, garlic, ginger egg white, fish sauce, vegetable oil, salt, white pepper, and 1 teaspoon sugar. Mix until everything is uniformly combined.
- In a large, shallow bowl or deep plate, dissolve the remaining 2 teaspoons sugar in 1 cup warm water. Sugar is optional but does help the spring rolls to brown when frying.
- To wrap each roll, place a rice paper wrapper into the sugar water for about 5-10 seconds, making sure it is completely submerged. Remove it from the water. It will still be quite firm, but it will soften quickly!
- Place about 40g of filling in a log shape on one side of the wrapper. Begin tightly folding the wrapper over the filling (no air bubbles!), and roll the spring roll forward 1 complete revolution. Lightly press down on each end of the filling to flatten the rice paper and push the filling together to eliminate any air bubbles.
- Fold one side of the wrapper towards the middle of the spring roll. Repeat with the other side. Roll the spring roll forward while tucking in the front to prevent air pockets. The rice paper wrapper will stick to itself. It doesn't require anything additional to seal. Place the rolls on a plate or sheet pan lined with a clean, dry kitchen towel or parchment paper.
- Once wrapped, transfer the spring rolls to the refrigerator and chill for at least 1 hour, so they can dry out and firm up. This step helps minimize the wrapper bubbling when frying (though bubbling is normal). Take them out of the refrigerator 15 minutes before frying.
- Heat about 3 cups of canola or vegetable oil in a medium pot to 335°F/170°C (the oil level should be a little over halfway up the sides). Fry the spring rolls in small batches-about three at a time. Make sure they do not touch just after they are placed in the oil as the skins will be sticky until a crust forms. Cook each batch for 5 to 6 minutes, or until light golden brown. (Frying them in small batches prevents them from sticking to each other.)
- Use a metal slotted spoon to pull them out of the oil. Drain on a rack, and continue frying. Maintain the correct oil temperature by periodically adjusting your heat.
- When ready to serve, refry the spring rolls (yes, they need to be fried twice) at 350°F/175°C for 1 ½ to 2 minutes to make them nice and crispy. Double-frying is important! Serve with fresh lettuce, cilantro, Thai basil, mint and nuoc cham for dipping.
Nutrition Facts : Calories 338 kcal, Carbohydrate 30 g, Protein 12 g, Fat 19 g, SaturatedFat 5 g, TransFat 1 g, Cholesterol 36 mg, Sodium 517 mg, Fiber 1 g, Sugar 2 g, ServingSize 1 serving
CRISPY SPRING ROLLS (CHA GIO)
The recipe and introductory text below are excerpted from Mai Pham's book The Best of Vietnamese and Thai Cooking. Pham also shared some helpful cooking tips exclusively with Epicurious, which we've added at the bottom of the page.
Provided by Mai Pham
Categories Chicken Mushroom Onion Pork Appetizer Fry Carrot Noodle Sugar Conscious Kidney Friendly Dairy Free Wheat/Gluten-Free Peanut Free Tree Nut Free Soy Free
Yield Makes about 25 pieces
Number Of Ingredients 22
Steps:
- Combine the bean thread noodles, mushrooms, onion, carrots, and green onions in a mixing bowl. Set aside.
- Beat the eggs in a large bowl. Mix in the fish sauce, garlic, salt, sugar, and black pepper. Add the chicken and pork and using a fork, break up the meat, so it is thoroughly mixed with the seasonings. Add the noodle mixture and mix well. Set aside.
- Combine the cornstarch and water in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil over low heat and stir often to prevent sticking. If mixture seems too thick, add more water. This will be the "glue" to seal the edges of the wrapper.
- Cut the wrappers in half diagonally. You will have two equal triangles. Starting with the longest side toward you, place about 2 tablespoons of filling on the bottom area of the triangle. Using your fingers, mold the filling into a cylinder 2 inches long and 1 inch wide. Fold the two pointed ends of the wrapper in and roll to enclose. Dab a little cornstarch mixture along the edges (do not use too much "glue") and seal the roll. Set aside while you finish making the remaining rolls. Do not stack them.
- To fry, preheat a large wok or fry pan. When hot, pour enough oil in to completely cover the spring rolls. Heat to about 325 degrees. Carefully place the rolls into the oil. Do not crowd the pan or place the rolls on top of each other. Fry the spring rolls until filling is cooked, about 5 to 6 minutes on each side, turning often until they are nicely brown and crisp. If they brown too quickly, reduce the heat as the oil is too hot. Remove the cooked spring rolls from the pan and drain on paper towels. Serve immediately with dipping sauce and table salad .
- To enjoy a spring roll the Vietnamese way, put it on a lettuce leaf, top with cucumber and mint, and wrap it up. Then dip in Vietnamese dipping sauce.
VIETNAMESE FRIED SPRING ROLLS
Cha gio When Noi came to America in 1975, banh trang - Vietnamese rice flour wrappers - weren't available, so the use of wheat wrappers from Singapore and China became widespread throughout the immigrant community. While it's easier to get banh trang these days, Noi still uses the wheat wrappers for this recipe.
Provided by Bich Minh Nguyen
Categories Mushroom Pork Shellfish Appetizer Fry Cocktail Party Shrimp Carrot Spring Gourmet Sugar Conscious Kidney Friendly Peanut Free Tree Nut Free Soy Free
Yield Makes 50 hors d'oeuvres
Number Of Ingredients 28
Steps:
- Make dipping sauce:
- Stir together sugar and water until sugar is dissolved. Stir in remaining sauce ingredients, then chill, covered, at least 2 hours.
- Prepare filling:
- Put noodles in a large bowl and cover with hot water by several inches. Soak, pulling noodles apart and stirring occasionally, 10 minutes. Drain noodles and cut into 2- to 3-inch pieces (you should have about 3 cups), then transfer to another large bowl.
- Put mushrooms in a bowl and cover with hot water by several inches. Soak 15 minutes. Drain and rinse mushrooms thoroughly, then drain again. Trim off and discard any hard parts from mushrooms. Finely chop mushrooms. (You should have about 2 cups.) Add to noodles.
- Pulse shallot and garlic in a food processor until finely chopped, then add to noodles along with carrots, pork, fish sauce, sugar, pepper, and salt. Pulse shrimp in processor until coarsely ground. (Do not overprocess or it will become pasty.) Add shrimp to noodle mixture. Mix with your hands until well combined. Chill filling, covered with plastic wrap, until cold.
- Assemble rolls:
- Line 2 trays with wax paper.
- Transfer one fourth of filling to a small bowl and keep remainder chilled, covered. Place 1 wrapper on a work surface, keeping remaining wrappers covered with a clean kitchen towel (to prevent them from drying out). Cut wrapper diagonally in half to form 2 triangles. With long side of 1 triangle nearest you, put 2 tablespoons filling along middle of long edge of triangle, and shape filling into a thin 5-inch log. Fold left and right corners of wrapper over filling, overlapping slightly and aligning bottom edges. (Wrapper will resemble an open envelope.) Dab top corner with yolk, then roll up wrapper away from you into a long thin roll, making sure ends stay tucked inside. Place on a tray, seam side down. Repeat with remaining triangle. Make more rolls in same manner with remaining wrappers and filling, keeping trays of rolls chilled, loosely covered, until ready to fry.
- Heat 1 1/2 inches of oil in a 5- to 6-quart pot over moderately high heat until it registers 365°F on thermometer. Fry rolls in batches of 5 or 6, keeping rolls apart during first minute of frying to prevent sticking, until golden brown and cooked through, 4 to 5 minutes. (Return oil to 365°F between batches.) Transfer as fried to a colander lined with paper towels and drain rolls upright 2 to 3 minutes. To eat, wrap hot or warm rolls in lettuce leaves and tuck in mint and cilantro leaves. Serve with dipping sauce.
- *Available at Asian markets and Uwajimaya (800-889-1928).
VIETNAMESE SHRIMP AND CRAB CRISPY SPRING ROLLS (CHA GIO)
Stashing for when we are looking beyond classic Maryland-style steamed crabs or wonderful crab cakes - that'll be quite a bit later in summer LOL. Received this recipe in am email from gourmet-recipes-from-around-the-world. The poster, ifourc, notes pork and shrimp cha gio can be made by using 1 pound ground pork and 1/2 pound shrimp. 1-1 1/2 ounces of thin cellophane noodles, chopped into 1/2" pieces and soaked in water until soft, is a common ingredient and can also be added to the mixture.
Provided by Busters friend
Categories Crab
Time 50m
Yield 10-12 serving(s)
Number Of Ingredients 13
Steps:
- Blanch cabbage and place into ice bath. Drain and squeeze out excess water. In a large bowl, mix together garlic, carrots, green onions and cabbage.
- Chop shrimp into small pieces. To the large bowl, add shrimp, soy sauce, sesame oil, sugar, and black pepper and mix. Add crab meat and egg white to mixture and combine evenly.
- Brush egg yolk on three corners of wrapper. Add 2 tablespoons of filling in center of wrapper, diagonally. Fold the two sides on the diagonal over the filling. Fold the non-egg yolk corner over and tuck snugly under filling and roll up.
- Deep fry the spring rolls in peanut oil at 350°F for 4-5 minutes or until golden brown. Work in batches. Flip half way through. Remove and place on paper towels to absorb excess oil. Eat with nuoc cham.
Nutrition Facts : Calories 96.7, Fat 1.7, SaturatedFat 0.3, Cholesterol 85.5, Sodium 886.6, Carbohydrate 7.5, Fiber 2, Sugar 2.8, Protein 13
VIETNAMESE SPRING ROLLS (CHA GIO)
These tiny spring rolls are deep fried until crisp and brown or, if you prefer, cook them by steaming for 10 minutes. Either method produces delightful hors d'oeuvres.
Provided by Olha7397
Categories Asian
Time 33m
Yield 144 pieces about
Number Of Ingredients 18
Steps:
- Soak mushrooms and cellophane noodles (in a separate bowl) in warm water for 30 minutes.
- MAKE DIPPING SAUCE: Combine all ingredients in a bowl, add 3 Tablespoons water and refrigerate. If you like it hot add 4-5 paper-thin rings of fresh habanero or scotch bonnet chili to the sauce.
- MAKE THE FILLING: Drain mushrooms and noodles thoroughly. Chop mushrooms finely and cut noodles into 1 inch lengths. In a bowl combine with the pork, garlic, onion, carrot, eggs, salt and pepper.
- Brush rice paper rounds generously with water to soften. Cut in quarters with scissors. Place 1 teaspoon filling on curved end of each quarter. Fold curved edge over fill, fold in sides and continue rolling, sealing the finished roll with more water, if necessary. Repeat until all the filling has been used.
- Heat oil in wok or large fry pan to 375°F Fry rolls a few at a time until crisp, about 6 to 8 minutes. Drain on paper towel and serve with sauce for dipping.
- The cooked rolls may be frozen. Re-heat frozen rolls in a 400°F oven for 20 minutes before serving.
- Welcome to Our World.
Nutrition Facts : Calories 39.2, Fat 3.7, SaturatedFat 0.8, Cholesterol 5.2, Sodium 80.4, Carbohydrate 0.8, Fiber 0.1, Sugar 0.2, Protein 0.7
Tips:
- Use thin rice paper wrappers for a crispy spring roll. Thicker wrappers will not crisp up as well.
- For the best results, use fresh vegetables and herbs.
- If you are using dried mushrooms, be sure to soak them in hot water for at least 30 minutes before using.
- Do not overfill the spring rolls. Too much filling will make them difficult to roll and they will not cook evenly.
- Be careful when frying the spring rolls. They can burn easily so be sure to watch them closely.
- Serve the spring rolls with your favorite dipping sauce. Some popular options include sweet and sour sauce, hoisin sauce, or fish sauce.
Conclusion:
Crispy spring rolls are a delicious and versatile appetizer or snack. They can be made with a variety of fillings and are always a crowd-pleaser. With a little practice, you can make crispy spring rolls that are just as good as the ones you get from your favorite restaurant.
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