Cha Gio (Vietnamese Fried Spring Rolls)

Vietnamese fried spring rolls (Cha Gio) may be less well known than their Chinese counterparts, but they are just as delicious. Crisp on the outside, with a tasty filling; they're perfect dipped in the traditional nuoc cham as well. When you think of Vietnamese spring rolls, you almost certainly think of the fresh spring rolls made with rice paper, goi cuon. Sometimes called summer rolls, you can recognize these by their soft outside, with their fillings such as shrimp and herbs faintly showing through the semi-translucent wrappers. (The rice paper wrapping is not cooked, simply dipped in water to soften it.) Crispy spring rolls, cha gio, on the other hand, are typically fried and served with a light fish sauce-based dipping sauce. You can also bake them, though it is not as traditional and they don't tend to crisp as well. Cha gio are traditionally made with rice paper wrappers, just like the summer rolls. But, using thin, wheat-based wrappers is becoming more common. The wheat wrappers, the same that you use for Chinese spring rolls, crisp up better and tend to have less issues with the filling escaping.