Doc Bear's Vietnamese Style Eggrolls (Mom's Version)

Vietnamese Style Filling

• 1 lb. ground pork
• 2/3 Cup onion
• 1/2 Cup Shredded carrot
• 1/2 Cup bean thread
• 1/8 Cup black fungus
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp pepper
• 1 tsp sugar

Filling, Rolling, and Wrapping

• 1 ea egg roll wrapper
• 2 Tbsp Filling
• 1 each egg, beaten
• Vegetable or canola oil for frying

Vietnamese Style Filling

1. Soak bean threads and black fungus in hot tap water for about 30 minutes until soft. Then roughly chop
2. Finely chop onion and shred carrots. Microwave carrots until slightly soft. Squeeze excess moisture out by hand for onion & carrots
3. Add bean thread, black fungus, onion, carrot, salt, pepper, and sugar into a large mixing bowl and mix thoroughly. Add pork and mix well
4. Cook and taste the filling and season with salt, pepper, or any other adjustments to your liking. Take ½ tsp and microwave for a few seconds until fully cooked
5. This filling is ready to be wrapped
6. Story: Back around 1986 or 1987, my mom and I went over to the house of one of her coworkers. It was a Vietnamese family, and my mom was interested in learning how to make Vietnamese style egg rolls. She and I spent the afternoon on a Saturday making egg rolls with this family, as they made literally hundreds of egg rolls for the family. There was a gigantic bowl in the center of the table, I would guess at about three feet in diameter, with a food processor that would add more filling to the bowl as needed. Once we had a stack of egg rolls, they would take them to the back patio, where they had two or three "Fry Daddies" to cook the egg rolls. Cooking them outside kept the house from getting too hot. It was a great lesson, and my mom adjusted the original recipe that was provided, and that is what I have placed here for the filling portion. Some items, such as squeezing the moisture out of carrots & Onions, have shown to keep the rolls from becoming soggy and mushy.

Filling, Rolling, and Wrapping

1. To wrap an egg roll, take a wrapper and place it so that one corner points towards you and you are looking at a diamond shape. Fold the bottom corner up 2/3 of the way towards the top,
2. Place the mixture across the bottom while leaving approximately a 1/4" gap between the mixture and the bottom edge of the wrapper. Try to keep the filling from overlapping the edges of the folded section.
3. Fold one side corner over about 2/3 of the way and repeat with the other side. Then roll it up and keep it as tight as you can while rolling.
4. When you reach the top of the wrapper, dip the exposed corner into the beaten egg for sealing and finish rolling.
5. Batch fry in vegetable or canola oil at 325°F for about 12 – 16 minutes per batch.
6. Excess batches can be fried for about 7 minutes or until lightly browned, cooled, and then placed into airtight freezer containers, then placed in the freezer. When ready to cook, the rolls can be thawed under refrigeration overnight and then fried at 325°F until golden brown. Frozen rolls may NOT get as brown as fresh rolls.