Cha Gio (Vietnamese Fried Spring Rolls)

Soak the glass noodles in warm water for 10 minutes, and soak the wood ear mushrooms separately for 20 minutes. Drain, cut the noodles into 3–4 cm lengths, and finely chop the mushrooms.

Grate the carrot, and finely chop the onion and garlic for the filling. In a bowl, combine the pork, noodles, wood ear mushrooms, carrot, onion, garlic, egg, fish sauce for the filling, sugar for the filling, salt and black pepper; mix for 2–3 minutes until the mixture becomes sticky.

For the nuoc cham, dissolve the sugar for the nuoc cham in the water for the nuoc cham, then add the fish sauce for the nuoc cham, lime juice, finely chopped garlic for the nuoc cham, and thinly sliced chili pepper.

Dip the rice paper sheets one at a time into warm water for soaking the rice paper for 2–3 seconds and place on a board. Spoon about 1 tablespoon of filling onto the lower third of each sheet, fold in the sides, and roll up tightly.

Heat the oil for frying to 170–175°C in a deep pot or deep fryer. Fry the spring rolls in batches for 4–5 minutes, turning carefully, until the wrapper is golden and the pork inside is fully cooked.

Transfer the finished rolls to paper towels to drain excess oil. Serve hot with lettuce leaves, fresh mint, fresh cilantro, and nuoc cham for dipping.