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1
Begin by soaking your mushrooms in some hot water.
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2
Keep them soaking until they are nice and tender.
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3
Once tender, after about 15 minutes or so, drain them, then chop them.
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4
Set aside.
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5
Prepare your bean thread noodles according to package instructions.
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6
You do not want them to be mushy, so just soak them until they have softened.
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7
Once softened, drain, and chop them.
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8
Set aside.
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9
Into a large mixing bowl, add the pork, shrimp, chopped mushrooms, and bean thread.
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10
Set aside.
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11
Into a food processor, add the carrot.
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12
Pulse until it is nicely grated.
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13
Remove the carrot from the food processor and place on some thick paper towels.
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14
Bundle up the paper towel and press out any liquid.
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15
Trust me, there is plenty of liquid from one carrot!
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16
Once drained, add the grated carrot to the mixing bowl with the pork mixture.
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17
Add the onion and garlic to the food processor, and pulse that down until finely grated.
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18
Add this into the mixing bowl.
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19
Add the oyster sauce and black pepper to the mixing bowl, and with both hands, preferably with cooking cloves on, mix and thoroughly combine all of the ingredients.
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20
Heat a large skillet over medium high heat.
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21
Take a bit of the mixture and add it to the preheated skillet.
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22
Cook the mixture until the pork nicely browned.
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23
Once cooked, taste it.
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24
Does it need any salt?
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25
More pepper?
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26
If so, season the mixture, and repeat until you have the balance you are looking for.
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27
There is nothing worse than wrapping 25-50 egg rolls and have a unseasoned meat mixture, trust me.
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28
Repeat with the remaining pork mixture until its all cooked.
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29
Once the mixture is ready, get a large bowl of warm water ready.
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30
We are going to soak the wrappers until they are softened, then begin wrapping.
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31
We will repeat this process several times.
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32
Get your frying pot ready, and add the oil.
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33
Bring the oil up to about 325 F. This will take a while, so we will begin wrapping the cha gio as it heats.
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34
Add a wrapper to the bowl of water, and move it around with your hand until it gets soft, or workable for wrapping, about a minute or so.
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35
Lay the softened wrapper on a plate, and add about two tablespoons, or more, of the filling.
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36
Lay the filling on the side of the wrapper that closest to you, with about an inch or so of the wrapper closest to you open.
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37
Fold the wrapper over the meat mixture, and gently roll it up half way.
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38
Then fold over both sides, and continue to roll it the rest of the way.
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39
Lightly brush just a bit of the beaten egg onto the end of the wrapper.
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40
Press gently to seal the wrapper.
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41
Make sure there are no tears or areas where oil can enter the roll.
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42
Place on a baking sheet, lined with lightly moistened paper towel.
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43
Repeat.
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44
This takes a bit of time, so have some good music playing.
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45
The oil should be ready now.
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46
Carefully place a few of the rolls into the oil, and let them sit there, cooking for about a minute or so without interacting with them.
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47
After a minute or so, carefully move them around, being careful not to tear the wrapper.
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48
Cook for about 5 minutes total, cooking all sides.
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49
Then remove them from the oil with a kitchen spyder and place them on a baking sheet that youve lined with paper towel to let any excess oil drain.
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50
Repeat.
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51
When you are ready to eat, and trust me, you will be ready after removing the first few of them, plate them up.
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52
This is the best part.
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53
Take one of the lettuce leaves, and add one of the cha gio into the center of the leaf.
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54
Place some fresh mint, cilantro, carrot and cucumber onto the side of the cha gio.
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55
Fold the lettuce leaf over the mixture, dip into some nuoc cham, and eat.
