Cha gio chay with taro and mushroom is a favorite on full moon days and meat free days. The pleasure is the crisp shell against a nutty taro filling shot through with strands of mushroom. The difficulty is a wet filling, which makes the rolls burst in the oil.
One tablespoon of tapioca starch mixed with half a bowl of water is brushed onto the wrappers to make them stick. Folding the edges snugly around the filling and brushing a little more starch along the seam keeps the rolls closed while they fry.
This batch weighs about 1.8kg, at roughly 115 calories per 100g.
Method
Soak 30g wood ear mushroom and 50g shiitake mushroom in warm water until they swell, rinse them and cut into fine strands.
Peel 200g jicama, 150g carrot and 200g taro, rinse them, cut into strands and chop fine. Strip the kernels from 1 sweet corn and steam them. Soak 100g split mung beans until swollen, rinse and steam until soft.
Mash 2 pieces of white tofu into a bowl, mix in the shiitake and wood ear mushroom, then add the carrot, jicama and taro.
Season with 1/2 teaspoon ground pepper, 2 teaspoons vegetarian seasoning powder, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon kOBE Monk Fruit Blend, 1 tablespoon fried leek, 1 tablespoon fried garlic, 1 tablespoon fried shallots, 50g roasted white sesame seeds, 100g leek and 1 tablespoon sesame oil, then mix well.
Finally fold in the corn, the mung beans and 1 minced bird's eye chili.
Mix 1 tablespoon tapioca starch with half a bowl of water until smooth.
Lay 2 mung bean rice paper wrappers on a board, brush them with the starch water so they stick, place the filling in the middle, fold the edges snugly around it and roll into a cylinder, brushing a little more starch along the seam.
Heat a pan of oil, and once it reaches about 80 degrees C, lower in the rolls and fry until golden on all sides, then lift them onto paper towels.
Tips
An extra brush of starch water along the seam holds the roll shut and stops it from bursting in the oil.
Medium heat browns the wrapper evenly while giving the filling time to cook through.
Jicama and carrot chopped very fine and squeezed of their liquid keep the filling dry.
Toast the white sesame seeds before they go into the filling, as raw ones give the whole roll a green, raw note.
Corn and mung beans go in last so the kernels stay whole.
Need kOBE Monk Fruit Blend?
The recipe above is sweetened with kOBE Monk Fruit Blend, measured 1:1 like sugar. See the product page or send us a message.