Spring Rolls & Hot Sauce
Cha Gio—Vietnamese
(Makes 10 pieces)

Hot Dipping Sauce
1/4 C lemon or lime juice
1/4 C water
1 T white wine vinegar
1 T brown sugar
1 T shrimp sauce (see sidebar)
4 dried chilies (crushed)
2 cloves garlic (crushed)
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Filling
1 T dried tree ear mushrooms (see sidebar)
2 oz. rice noodles—"rice stick" (see sidebar)
4 oz. cooked shrimp (finely chopped)
1 small onion (finely chopped)
3 scallions (finely chopped)
1/4 lb. ground pork
1/4 tsp. pepper
1 tsp. shrimp paste (see sidebar)
1 T. fresh parsley (chopped)
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10 egg roll skins
oil for frying

Make dipping sauce first so it's at room temperature by the time the spring rolls are done.

Sauce: combine all ingredients in a saucepan, stirring to dissolve sugar. Simmer for 15 mnutes. Set aside. 

Filling: soak mushrooms in warm water for 30 minutes, drain, and finely chop. Soak noodles in warm water to soften for about 20 minutes, drain, and cut into 1" lengths. Finely chop shrimp. Combine all filling ingredients in a large bowl, mixing to blend thoroughly.

Rolls: place 2 T filling in the center of each eggroll wrapper. Press down to flatten and fold in sides to cover filling. Roll up, from one of the short edges. Run your finger under the faucet and press it along the edges of the wraps to seal.

Frying: Heat oil to 350 in large skillet or wok. Fry rolls in batches for 7-8 minutes, till golden brown. Drain on paper towels. Serve accompanied with Hot Dipping Sauce.

Tips & Glossary: Southeast Asian

You probably won’t have many of the ingredients common to this cuisine. So before undertaking any of the recipes, make a list and head to an Asian food store.

Toss any old, even unopened, spice jars because they’ve probably lost their distinctive flavors. Put them on your shopping list. 

About those chilis: Southeast Asian food is Hot, with a capital H, hotter than most Westerners are used to. We’ve turned the heat down in these recipes somewhat, but just to warn you: adjust the use of chilies to your tastes.

Rice Sticks: aka rice noodles or vermicelli; thin dried noodles from rice flour. Soak before using, about 1 hour, or less, depending on how soft or chewy you like your noodles. You’ll want to experiment a bit before you find the texture you want. 

Shrimp Paste: made of fermented, ground shrimp. Called terasi in Indonesia, kapi in Thailand, blachanag in Malay, and mam tom in Vietnamese. It has a pungent smell, which you may find hard to take, but it’s essential in many dishes. 

Tamarind: tropical tree grown in Africa and Asia; its fruit pulp is used as souring agent for savory dishes in Asian cooking. It’s also found in Worcestershire sauce and some ketchup.

Tree Ear Mushrooms: used for flavoring but also for their gelatinous texture. Soak before using.

Wok: you can use a wok, though it’s not necessary—a deep, wide skillet will do. If you use a wok, make sure it’s properly seasoned: coat bottom and sides with 1 C oil and it till it begins to smoke.  Let it smoke for 2-3 minutes.  Pour out oil, and when wok is cool enough, rub with paper towel, removing excess oil.  Pour in ½ C coarse-grained salt and rub into bottom and sides of wok. Pour off salt and rub wok with a thin layer of oil—and you’ve got a seasoned wok.