Chả Giò (Minced Pork Roll) Recipe

I learned how to make Chả Giò from my friend and lab partner Hanh Tran during my graduate studies at Oregon State. It is a simple recipe but it is better if you have a friend or two help you with the rolling since this can be quite labor intensive on your own. Also, this is another great dish to make for parties as you can roll the Chả Giò the day before, then refrigerate them overnight, and fry them an hour or two before the party begins. You can serve Chả Giò with many different sauces but be sure to include Nước Mắm as this is a perfect combination with this dish.

Recommended Equipment:
deep fryer

Ingredients:
1 pound ground pork
2 tspn sugar
1/2 tspn MSG (optional)
1/2 tspn Kosher salt
1/2 tbsp garlic powder
2 packs of Lunkow brand bean thread

1 large yellow onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, diced
1 egg
2 carrots, minced
1 - 2 tbsp fresh cilantro, diced
4 green onions, diced
1 box Lumpia wrappers


Preparation:

1. In a large bowl, mix together the ground pork, sugar, MSG (optional), garlic powder, and Kosher salt.
2. In a separate bowl, soak the bean thread in cold water for about 20 minutes. The thread will become soft and malleable. Remove the thread from the water and pat off any excess moisture using a paper towel. Dice up the bean thread and add to the ground pork mixture.
   
3. Dice up the onion and garlic and add to the ground pork mixture.
4. Mince the carrots and dice the green onions and cilantro. Before adding these ingredients to the ground pork mixture, be sure to squeeze out any excess water.
   
5. After you have added the carrots, cilantro and green onions, cover the bowl and refrigerate for at least 3 hours.
   
6. Heat up the oil (I used canola) in the deep fryer. When the oil has reached frying temperature, test a small amount of the pork mixture by making a small ball and dropping it into the deep fryer. After 4 minutes, remove the ball of pork and test the flavor. If you need to adjust the flavor, do so now.
7. Using the Lumpia wrappers, roll out the chả giò. See the photos below.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
8. Next, drop 3 to 4 of the rolls into the deep fryer and cook until the chả giò begin to turn golden brown. Do not cook more than 4 at a time to ensure that the chả giò cook evenly.
   
9. Remove the chả giò from the oil, and set them on a paper towel to dry. Keep them warm on a baking sheet in the oven until you have cooked all of the chả giò.
10. Serve hot with Nước Mắm fish sauce.
    

Vietnam