I had my first Thanksgiving away from home this year. The tradition in my family for the past couple of years is to gather at my aunt and uncle’s house, obnoxiously play rounds of competitive Rock Band against cousins, and eat lots of delicious food. Eat until it is painful, eat beyond the point of what is healthy, eat until you never want to eat again. Ever since I can remember, dinner would include turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes and other staples of traditional Thanksgiving fare but would also be lopped with Korean BBQ, egg rolls, rice cakes, my aunt’s awesome chicken salad, sticky rice and other delicious non-conventional T-day foods. To me, this was tradition – reminiscent of my childhood and my family. I like to call it “Vietnamese Thanksgiving” or “Asian Thanksgiving.”
Last fall, I distinctly remember a conversation in our DC back office where disdain was expressed by several people for “cultural Thanksgivings” because well, why don’t they just “leave tradition alone”? In my little intern corner, I steamed a little bit from what I knew was a casual, passing remark – if pressed, I’m sure they would acknowledge they meant no harm – but to me, in my version of America – land of immigrants – traditions held in your family and in my family and in all families were all part of a greater, grander American tradition. Some may not be part of the mainstream, and some may not be regarded as “All-American,” but they are American nonetheless.
Whew. Anyway, I cherished this past Thanksgiving away from home because it meant that, for the first time, my friends and I were wholly responsible for the planning and production of Thanksgiving dinner. How grown up. Our menu included roasted chicken (ok, I admit it – I don’t really like turkey, and afterward, you are eating turkey sandwiches for days), mashed red potatoes and gravy, stuffing, and roasted asparagus. Per my special request and insistence, we also made Vietnamese egg rolls, also known as cha gio.
Just to clarify, Vietnamese egg rolls are different from Chinese egg rolls, Filipino lumpia, and other types of Asian egg rolls. In my humble, potentially racist, totally biased opinion, they are superior to other types. Vietnamese egg rolls are fried, several-bite-sized, crunchy rolls of goodness. They are not spring rolls, which are made with clear rice paper and are not fried. They are not summer rolls, which is a term that should not exist and which I’d never heard of until I went to Cheesecake Factory. If you are not offended so far and would like to actually know how to make these, please proceed.
Warning: This fails to meet my criteria for easy-to-make food, just in that some of the ingredients are not easy to find, and there is a lot of preparation involved. However, as perilous and challenging as the journey may be, the rewards are great.
Ingredients
1 package deep-fried spring roll wrapper*
1 small section bean thread vermicelli* (sold individually or in packages (which are just bundles of individual sections – you will need one section))
1 cup dried mushrooms, soaked and sliced, or 1 cup tree/wood ear fungus/mushroom, soaked*
1 lb ground pork
1 large onion, minced or grated
3-4 cloves of garlic, minced
1 or 2 carrots, peeled and grated
1 egg, beaten
1 tbsp sugar, to taste
1 tsp salt, to taste
1 tsp pepper, to taste
2 tbsp fish sauce or nuoc mam (optional)
* Denotes ingredients easiest to find in Asian supermarkets.
Steps
1. MIXING IT ALL. Cut off mushroom stems and slice thinly. After rehydrating vermicelli, cut into two-inch segments. Mix all ingredients (except for the wrappers, of course) thoroughly. To check for taste, you can microwave a chunk for about 30 seconds so that you’re not tasting raw pork. If adding fish sauce, note this will make the mixture more salty, so adjust salt proportions accordingly.
2. WRAPPING IT UP. This is probably the hardest part for those not experienced in roll wrapping. I unfortunately don’t have a picture of this process, but I will say, (1) have the wrapper facing you like a diamond, (2) place a little bit of filling horizontally and just off-center in the wrapper, (3) fold the edge of the wrapper that is parallel and closest to the filling and place it so that it slightly pinches the mixture, (4) fold the sides of the wrapper in, and (5) finish by rolling it toward the other end of the wrapper. If there is too much filling, the wrapper will break. This will take practice, so do not fret if you don’t get the first few right.
3. FRYING TIME. This is best fried either in a deep fryer or in a wok. No worries if you have neither, you just have to make sure it fries evenly on all sides. Fill the pan with several inches of either canola or sunflower oil because they’re tasteless and healthier than vegetable or corn oil. Do not use olive oil because it has a different heating point and is less effective for deep frying. It’s best if you put enough oil in that it covers the roll. Put in 2 tbsp white vinegar because it helps make the egg rolls crispy. Heat to medium-high and make sure it cooks evenly on all sides.
before
and after!
And there you have it. I had to look at some recipes online and talk to my aunt – she makes the best egg rolls and is advanced enough to have her own deep fryer. You can eat it with fish sauce and hot chili, or just plain. Enjoy!
