Vietnamese Fried Egg Rolls

My friend came over at 8:30 bright and early one morning to teach me how to make these Vietnamese egg rolls.  She guided me through with all the tips she could think of.  I am glad that she told me to prepare some of the ingredients the night before. Hence, we were able to finish frying the egg rolls by 11 o'clock and were able to enjoy the food before the kids got out of school.   I also made this quick pickled mustard soup to go with the egg rolls.  They were so delicious that the family almost finished all the egg rolls at dinner time. The way she taught me how to eat the egg rolls were better than just eating the egg roll alone.

Makes 75 Egg Rolls

Ingredients:

3 pkg. O'tacy brand egg roll wraps (2pkg. for 1lb. ground pork)
2 lb. ground pork
6 Carrots, peeled and shredded
1 small hicama, peeled and shredded
1 sweet onion, peeled and shredded
1/4 cup vermicelli, cut to short pieces (no need to soak it)
1 cup shrimp,  peeled and julian
3 gloves of garlic, paste
Pepper to taste
Canola oil (or safflower oil)

Directions:

1. Squeeze and drain excess liquid of chopped ingredients.
2. Add shrimp and garlic into food processor and make a shrimp paste.
3. Mix all chopped ingredients together in a big bowl, add pepper, do not add salt.

4.  Peel and place a piece of egg roll wrap on a plate in a diamond shape, add 1 tablespoon of mixed ingredient,  and try lengthen the meat so it is not too thick to cook through. 

5.  Fold and pinch the filling tight with the wrapper into a long tube shape.

6. Fold in both ends and make sure they are straight like an envelope, so the egg roll will be even.
7. Roll and seal the end with water. Do not roll it too tight as it may burst while frying.

8. Turn heat to medium low, heat up enough oil to fry egg rolls.  Fry at medium low heat until golden brown, turn occassional to make sure they are cooked evenly.  Be patient not to rush through it.  When the egg rolls are done, allow them to cool off vertically in a coriander with a bowl under to collect the dripping oil.  This is the best way to ensure all sides are crunchy when they are cool off.

To serve these egg rolls, you can make some vermicelli to go with them:

Boil 4 cups of water and add vermicelli, then stir and separate the vermicelli. Bring to another boil and stir. Turn off heat and let it sit in the pot for 3 to 5 minutes. Drain and rinse with cold water. Fluff with chopstick from time to time to make sure it cool offs and does not stick together.

When ready to serve, cut up an egg roll in 1/3, wrap it inside a lettuce with some vermicelli. Dip into the fish vinegar sauce. For fish vinegar sauce recipe, please refer to my previous post on Vietnamese Food.

Another way to serve it is to lay some bean sprouts over vermicelli and lettuce; and dip into the fish vinegar sauce to eat. 

Note:

Tips to remember:

No salt is needed to add in the ingredients.  Squeeze and drain the excess vegetables juice which would make the egg roll soggy.  Olive oil is not a good choice for frying.  Use lower temperature to frying.  Drain in coriander vertically to keep it crunchy. These can be refrigerated and reheated in a toaster oven.