Carrot & Cabbage Egg Rolls (Chả Giò Chiên Cà Rốt Bắp Cải)

Vietnamese Egg Roll, or Chả giò is a popular appetizer. The basic Vietnamese egg roll consists of marinated ground pork, onions, woodear mushroom and thin cellophane noodles. The roll is then wrapped in rice paper and deep-fried until golden brown and crispy, and served alongside a sweet and spicy dipping sauce (Nước Mắm Chấm / Nước Mắm Pha).

In the States, the egg rolls forego the traditional rice paper and use wheat wrappers. Wheat wrappers are the same ones used in Filipino egg rolls, lumpia.

Wheat wrappers work much better than traditional rice paper. They crisp up quickly and nicely. Rice paper, on the other hand, requires a bit of preparation or else it doesn’t brown. Some people brush rice paper with a bit of sweetened coconut milk to brown and crisp up. Save yourself the time and trouble by using wheat wrappers instead. They are labeled as Cha Gio / Lumpia / Spring Roll and are usually found in the freezer aisle in Asian grocery stores.

Fillings to the egg rolls can vary. This particular egg roll recipe is more vegetable-based, using lots of carrot and cabbage. This is how I get my kids to get their vegetables =).

However, you can add any vegetable of your choice. You can also add other ground meats if you don’t like ground pork. You can also substitute the meat with crumpled tofu for a vegetarian / vegan option.

Since I’m using lots of carrots and cabbage in this particular recipe, I semi-cook the vegetables to reduce the bulk and moisture. This makes rolling the egg rolls easier and ensures the egg rolls are not soggy.

Recipe below. Happy cooking!