Egg rolls are well known as a Chinese appetizer but these are a little different. The Vietnamese way is to use rice paper as the wrapper - when deep-fried they have a slight opaqueness. Dipped into Nuoc Mam sauce, spiced up with a little chopped red chili, they are a perfect nibble with drinks. Most Hanoi lunchtime beer houses (bia hois) make large ones and snip them into sections with scissors for better chopstick handling. In southern Vietnam, they make them canapé-sized, just right for popping into the mouth.

Ingredients:

2 oz
1/2 cup
1/2 cup
2
3
1 inch piece
1/2 tbsp

10
2



For Deep-frying:

To garnish:

To serve:

thin glass (bean thread) noodles
dried black fungus
ground pork
shallots, chopped
garlic cloves, crushed
fresh ginger, peeled and finely chopped
soy sauce
ground black pepper
round rice papers (banh trang)
eggs, beaten


peanut oil

sprig of mint

Nuoc Mam Dipping sauce

Method:

1. Soak the noodles and fungus in separate bowls of warm water for 20 minutes or until they are soft.

2. Using scissors, snip the noodles into 1-inch lengths and chop the fungus into small pieces. Mix together with the pork, shallots, garlic, ginger, soy sauce, and pepper.
   

3. With the scissors, cut each round of rice paper into quarters. Brush each quarter with egg and leave to soften for a couple of minutes. Place 1 heaping teaspoon of filling towards the rounded edge of the rice paper, fold the sides in and roll up towards the pointed end. Repeat with the remaining filling and rice paper.
   

4. Heat the oil for deep-frying in a saucepan until a cube of bread browns in 2 minutes. Add about 6 egg rolls and cook for 6-8 minutes or until they are golden brown and the filling cooked through. Repeat with the remaining egg rolls, garnish with a sprig of mint, and serve with Nuoc Mam Dipping Sauce.

Makes 40