Title: Vietnamese spring rolls (cha gio)
 Categories: Vietnamese, Appetizers, Ceideburg 2
      Yield: 1 Servings
 
MMMMM--------------------------FILLING-------------------------------
      2 oz Cellophane noodles,
           -soaked in warm water for
           -20 minutes, then drained
           -and cut onto 1-inch lengths
      1 lb Ground pork
      1 lg Onion, finely chopped
      2 tb Tree ears, soaked in warm
           -water for 30 minutes, then
           -drained and finely chopped
      3    Cloves garlic, finely
           -chopped
      3    Shallots or white part of 3
           -scallions, finely chopped
      1 cn (7 ounces) crabmeat,
           -cartilage removed and meat
           -flaked with fingers
    1/2 ts Freshly ground black pepper

MMMMM----------------PREPARATIONS FOR ASSEMBLING---------------------
     20    Sheets dried rice papers
           -(banh trang)
      4    Eggs, well beaten
      2 c  Peanut oil

MMMMM-----------------ACCOMPANIMENTS FOR SERVING----------------------
           Basic Vegetable Platter
           Carrot Salad
           Double recipe of Nuoc Cham
 
  Here they are!  The incomparable "Cha Gio" or Vietnamese spring rolls.
  
  Yields 80 spring rolls.
  
  Combine the filling ingredients in a bowl and set aside.
  
  Cut a round rice paper sheet into quarters.  Place the cut rice paper
  on a flat surface.  With a pastry brush, paint the beaten egg over
  the entire surface of each of the pieces.  Before filling, wait for
  the egg mixture to take effect, softening the wrappers; this takes
  about 2 minutes. When you become adept at this, you can work on
  several wrappers at a time.
  
  When the wrapper looks soft and transparent, place about 1 teaspoon of
  filling near the curved side, in the shape of a rectangle.  Fold the
  sides over to enclose the filling and continue to roll.
  
  After filling all the wrappers, pour the oil into a large frying pan,
  put the spring rolls into the cold oil, turn the heat to moderate,
  and fry for 20 to 30 minutes, until a lovely golden brown.  (This is
  Bach's special method of keeping spring rolls crisp).
  
  To serve the spring rolls, proceed as follows:
  
  Arrange the ingredients for the vegetable platter (lettuce, mint
  leaves, coriander, and the cucumber slices) according to the
  directions preceding. Have ready the carrot salad and a bowl of nuoc
  cham. Each person has a bowl into which he places a bit of lettuce, 2
  or 3 mint leaves, some coriander, and 2 cucumber slices.  Each person
  then adds 1 or 2 spring rolls to his bowl, sprinkles with the nuoc
  cham, and eats the spring rolls and vegetables together, using
  chopsticks or a fork.
  
  Additional carrot salad may be added to taste.
  
  Another very popular serving method calls for placing the vegetables
  on a lettuce leaf, adding the spring roll, and rolling it into a
  cylinder. Holding the cylinder with his fingers, each diner then dips
  it into his own small bowl of nuoc cham.
  
  NOTE:  We have found that frying the spring rolls in peanut oil keeps
  them crisper than frying in any other oil.