Bún Chả Giò (Vietnamese Spring Roll Noodle Bowls)
This is one of my favourite Vietnamese recipes that I grew up eating, and still love to this day!
Makes- 40 spring rolls, Vermicelli Bun Bowls serve 2
Ingredients 20
Cooking time - 1 hour
Skill level- Easy to moderate
Spring Roll Ingredients
- 1 tray (500g) of pork mince
- 300g (approx. 18) of prawns, raw, peeled and finely chopped (ideally banana prawns)
- 1 packet (50 wrappers/250g) of spring roll wrappers
- 1 carrot, finely grated
- 8 x dried Chinese mushrooms, rehydrated and finely chopped
- 1 garlic clove, finely chopped
- 1/4 of red onion, finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon of sesame oil
- 1 tablespoon of fish sauce
- 1 x tablespoon of corn flour (to seal the spring rolls)
- Salt, pepper and sugar to taste
Vermicelli Bowl Ingredients
- 100g of rice vermicelli, cooked and strained
- 1 cucumber, finely chopped (preferably Lebanese)
- 1 handful of fresh mint, finely chopped
- 1 handful of Vietnamese mint, finely chopped
- 1 handful of coriander, finely chopped
- 2-3 lettuce leaves, finely shredded (preferably cos lettuce)
- 3-4 tablespoons of Vietnamese Dipping Sauce
- 1 fresh chilli, finely chopped (optional)
- 1 tablespoon of pickled carrot (optional)
Method
Spring Rolls
- Add pork mince, prawns, carrot, mushrooms, garlic, onion, fish sauce and sesame oil into a bowl and mix until combined. If you’re using dried mushrooms, submerge them into a bowl of boiling water and allow to rehydrate for 10 minutes. Squeeze out excess water and dry on a paper towel before finely chopping.
- Add Salt, pepper to taste and 1 tablespoon of sugar. Mix to combine.
- Add half a tablespoon of water into a small bowl with the corn flour and stir until combined. You will use this mixture to seal the spring roll ends so they don’t unravel.
- Gently peel your spring roll wrappers apart one at a time from the pack and cover with a damp tea towel to avoid them drying out. Get ready to roll!
- To roll the spring rolls. Place a heaped teaspoon onto one of the corners of the square wrapper and roll into a cigar shape. Fold each of the ends into the middle like a burrito and roll all the way down until there’s no wrapper left. Dip your finger into the corn flour mixture and dot the end corner of the wrapper to seal the end and prevent the spring roll from unravelling. Continue rolling spring rolls until there is no filling left.
- To fry, place about 1-2 cups of neutral oil (vegetable or canola) into a pot and heat. Your oil is ready when you place the end of a chopstick into the oil and its starts bubbling.
- Gently drop batches of 6 spring rolls at a time and fry for 5-6 minutes on medium. Don’t have your oil on high otherwise the wrapper will cook too quickly whilst the filling on the inside will not cook entirely. Also use tongs or chopsticks to turn the spring rolls every minute to ensure they cook evenly.
- Once golden brown, remove from the oil and place onto a tray lined with paper towel to drain off excess oil for a minute.
- Serve hot and immediately.
Vermicelli Bowls
If you want to serve them in a Vermicelli Bowl to create ‘Bun Cha Gio’:
- Cook and drain your vermicelli and add a handful to your serving bowls.
- Add your finely shredded lettuce, chopped cucumber and herbs of your choice.
- Cut up your spring rolls into diagonal portions and add to your bowl
- Add pickled carrot and fresh chilli (optional)
- Spoon a few tablespoons of Vietnamese dipping sauce
- Serve and eat immediately
If you want to try more of my Vietnamese Recipes, you can find some of my most popular dishes below;
- Vietnamese Stuffed Cabbage Soup (Canh Bắp Cải Gói Thịt)
- Pork & Prawn Rice Paper Roll
- Grilled Prawn Vermicelli (Bún Tôm Nướng)
- Egg Bánh Mì
- Cơm Tấm (Vietnamese Broken Rice)
- Chả Cá Lã Vọng (Vietnamese Turmeric Fish with Dill and Noodles)
- Vietnamese Style Beef & Green Mango Salad
- Bún thịt nướng
- Thịt Kho Trứng (Vietnamese Braised Pork Belly & Eggs)
- Cháo Gà (Vietnamese Chicken Congee with a Poached Chicken Slaw)
- Bò Kho (Vietnamese Spicy Beef Stew)
- Vietnamese Crispy Pork Belly Infused with Vodka
- Lemongrass Pork Rice Paper Rolls
- Vietnamese Vegetarian Spring Rolls
- Bánh Xèo (Vietnamese Sizzling Crepes)
- Vietnamese Pork and Prawn Salad with Black Sesame Cracker
- Nước chấm - Vietnamese Dipping Sauce