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Vegan Vietnamese Spring Rolls – Chả Giò Chay

June 24, 2020 by Lisa Le 13 Comments

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These Vegan Vietnamese spring rolls are the plant-based version of a family party classic – Chả Giò Chay!

Vegan Vietnamese Spring Rolls

People have been asking me to make spring rolls for the longest time, and I think I’ve been reluctant to make intricate dishes like these because of my eczema. Lately (especially because it’s summer), I’ve been learning to better manage my stress and wear protective gloves so that my skin doesn’t get as mad at me for the excessive hand-washing when it comes to recipe development.

Lately I’ve been energized with cooking and finding it deeply satisfying to re-create so many childhood recipes (like the eggplant dish, thit kho dish, and hot pot), so naturally sharing these Vietnamese party favourites was definitely at the top of my list.

ingredients for the spring roll filling in bowls

What is the difference between Vietnamese Spring rolls vs Egg Rolls?

Vietnamese spring rolls (chả giò) are different other fried egg rolls or spring rolls from other cultures. We typically have clear bean thread noodles and wood ear fungus used to add a bit of extra texture and moisture into the spring rolls.

In a lot of other cultures, I find the spring rolls studded with onions, cabbage, carrot, and pork. In my experience, I’ve only seen taro, fungus, and noodles in the Vietnamese ones.

I grew up associating egg rolls with the more bubbly, thicker, wheat wrapped vegetable rolls served with plum sauce at Americanized Chinese restaurants.

chopped taro root in a bowl

How do you traditionally eat Chả Giò chay?

You typically eat chả giò with Vietnamese fish sauce with pickled carrots & daikon and lettuce. The combination of lettuce, pickled vegetables and a fried spring roll gives a balance of fresh, crunchy, tender and savoury! With the tangy and savoury Vietnamese nước chấm, it is a classic appetizer and popular party food. We eat it on

My family would always have a platter of these fried on the table during one of our long-weekend family gatherings. I have so many memories of my grandparents plucking one to snack on while they were off entertaining their friends. My mom would wrap hot-fried ones in a paper towel for the kids to snack on!

I have memories of my brother as a tot, blowing gingerly over the spring roll to cool it down. He’d only to take a bite and immediately regret it. He would tearily return it to me or my mom, telling us it was too hot to eat.

EDIT: It’s come to my attention that these wrappers are NOT vegan, as they have undeclared milk products in them (RE: Canada Inspection Agency).

Where do I find vegan spring roll wrappers?

The recipe I’m sharing uses the medium sized spring roll wrappers. Feel free to use the smaller sizes if you like!

I’ve been able to find some other vegan brands–I can’t find a picture of it but it has red packaging. If you can’t find any vegan wrappers, use rice paper!

You can find rice paper for frying OR use regular rice paper–just make sure to wrap your filling well. Most rice paper says suitable for frying on it, but you can double wrap to ensure the filling is secure.

Fry just like you would the egg-roll ones. Turn the spring rolls frequently in oil and fry until golden brown. They bubble up and get really crispy! However, I would not recommend air-frying rice paper spring rolls, they always turn out with a stale crunch.

Vietnamese Spring Rolls made with rice paper

How do you freeze spring rolls?

You can feeze both the egg/wheat rolls and the rice paper rolls and store in an airtight container. For the rice paper rolls, I recommend freezing with space between each spring roll. Once frozen, transfer to an airtight container once all frozen. I like to place a layer of parchment paper between each layer of spring rolls.

My mom would buy a few packs of these from the Asian markets in Toronto, then we’d drive our 2 hours back home and store them in the freezer. On the off chance she decided to make spring rolls that week, she’d thaw them and we’d get to work making spring rolls on the weekend. After a few hours and an assembly line of wrapping, we would fill our freezer full spring rolls frozen. Our freezer would be filled frozen spring rolls on repurposed Styrofoam trays (like the ones meat is packed on) and wrapped in many layers of cling film.

How do you cook frozen Spring Rolls?

You can deep fry frozen spring rolls without thawing! In fact, they keep their shape better that way. I like to heat my oil to around 350F (until the oil is shimmering) and fry until golden brown, turning frequently to cook evenly.

Any time my school or my mom’s work would have a potluck, everyone would ask us to bring spring rolls. With heaps of chả giò at the ready in the freezer, my mom would get to work in the garage, deep-frying a tall pot of these frozen spring rolls, yielding a beautiful stacked pyramid of golden spring rolls.

As far as I know, she still does this for her co-workers and my brother’s school potlucks, but she’s vegetarian now and even still, they are highly requested and devoured despite being meat-free.

Vegan Vietnamese Spring Rolls
Print Recipe

Vietnamese Spring Rolls

These are a veganized version of the classic, savoury Vietnamese spring rolls. They use a myriad of vegetables with glass noodles and wood ear mushroom to get a balance of texture and umami goodness in the filling.
Prep Time1 hour hr 30 minutes mins
Cook Time15 minutes mins
Total Time1 hour hr 45 minutes mins
Course: Appetizers & Sides
Cuisine: Vietnamese
Servings: 36 -40 spring rolls
Author: Lisa Le

Ingredients

  • 1 loose cup 20 g dried wood ear fungus (buy sliced if you can, if not, sliced into thin strips about ½ inch or 1 cm long)
  • 1 bundle 40 g of mung bean thread (sometimes labelled vermicelli)
  • 1 tbsp vegetable oil
  • 1 medium onion 170 g, very finely minced
  • 2 medium carrots 150 g, peeled and minced
  • 1 heaping cup ~180 g taro root, peeled and minced
  • 24 oz 680 g veggie ground crumble (two packages of ground round, or about 3 cups of frozen beefless crumble)
  • ½ tsp 2 g ground black pepper
  • 3 tbsp 45 mL vegan fish sauce OR soy sauce
  • 1 package of 6 x 6 inch vegan spring roll wrappers**
  • 1 tbsp 7 g cornstarch
  • 2 tbsp 15 ml water
  • Oil for frying

Instructions

  • To Make the Filling
  • Soak the wood ear fungus and mung bean thread by submerging them
    in two bowls with warm water. Let reconstitute for about 5-10 minutes.
  • In a large wok or pan over medium heat, combine minced onion, carrots and
    taro root, the veggie ground crumble, pepper, and vegan fish sauce (or soy
    sauce). Cook until vegetables have started to soften.
  • Drain the mung bean thread and wood ear fungus and chop to about ¼
    inch-1/2 inch (1/2 cm to 1 cm) long pieces. Add the chopped mung bean thread
    and wood ear fungus to the mixing bowl and mix well until everything is evenly
    distributed, and cook to heat through. You'll see the noodles start to absorb some moisture and make the mixture thicken. Remove from heat and set aside.
  • Separate the layers of spring roll wrappers and arrange for easy
    access on a plate. Cover with foil or a clean, damp tea towel so they don’t dry
    out.
  • Prepare your cornstarch mixture (water + cornstarch) in a small bowl to
    seal the spring rolls.
  • To fill the spring rolls, arrange a wrapper like a diamond with a
    point facing you. Add about 2.5 tbsp of filling to the bottom third of the
    diamond, and centre it as a horizontal log. Take the bottom corner and start to
    roll, tucking it tightly around the filling, rolling it up about halfway up the
    wrapper. Tuck in the left and right sides tightly, and continue to roll
    tightly, sealing the top tip with a dab of water and then completing the roll.
    It takes a bit of practice, but you’ll find the balance between rolling tight
    enough that everything is in place but not so tight that you tear the wrapper. Use
    a finger to stir through the cornstarch mixture and apply a slight layer to the
    outside corner of the spring roll to seal the spring roll.
  • Repeat until all the filling is used up, and arrange the spring
    rolls in a single layer on plate or a freezer safe container. Separate each
    layer with parchment paper for ease of use. Freeze while the oil is heating up
    so that the spring rolls stay intact better while frying.
  • To fry, heat up about 2 inches of oil in a medium-large pot until
    about 375F (190C). Carefully fry the spring rolls, about 4-6 at a time
    (depending on the size of your pot) flipping occasionally until golden all
    around. Remove once you get a nice golden brown (the ends will get a bit of a
    dark brown). Drain on paper towel or on a wire rack over a sheet pan. Enjoy on
    their own, dipping in Nước Mắm Chấm Chay, sriracha sauce, or over a classic bowl of bún!
  • These freeze well for 4-6 weeks, and you can fry from frozen. If
    freezing for storage, be sure to store in an airtight container to prevent
    freezer burn.

Notes

I've been informed that there is a mislabelling of the spring roll wrappers I used in this recipe and that they are in fact, not vegan. I suggest using rice paper instead, I have rice paper that says for frying or for eating fresh. Some of the frying rice paper is thicker! I use regular rice paper and just wrap with one layer. When you freeze, make sure none of the sides touch (they'll stick together), and then once frozen, you can freeze stacked together. You can fry from frozen or fresh, they will bubble up a lot more than the egg-roll style wrappers, but both are delicious!
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Filed Under: Appetizers & Sides, Recipes from TikTok, Vegan recipes, Vietnamese Tagged With: cha gio chay, spring rolls, vegan spring rolls, vietnamese

About Lisa Le

Lisa is the thirty-something, nerdy, procrastinating, feminist blogger and photographer behind The Viet Vegan. She loves spicy foods, noodles, and food in bowls.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Pawka says

    June 24, 2020 at 6:26 PM

    I used to buy this pastry for my spring rolls but unfortunately it contains milk even though it is not listed. You can check It here: https://www.newswire.ca/news-releases/food-recall-warning-allergen-spring-home-brand-pastry-products-recalled-due-to-undeclared-milk-833852980.html
    It’s a shame it was the only variety to buy in my area :(
    I have to wait to try you recipe. It looks delicious. Thank you for your work.

    Reply
    • Lisa Le says

      July 9, 2020 at 12:52 AM

      Thanks for telling me this! I have added that info to my post, what a bummer! I will be looking for other spring roll pastry :/

      Reply
    • Vicky Glen says

      September 25, 2020 at 6:50 PM

      These looks great! I love your recipes.

      I tried a new vegan egg rolls wrapper today and they turned out so delicious and crispy. It’s made by Nasoya, give it a try you may like it.

      Btw, do you mean to say egg rolls (and not spring rolls)? Spring rolls are gỏi cuốn.

      Reply
  2. Lily says

    July 4, 2020 at 5:03 AM

    Amazing…I always reads your recipes and this is one of my favorite…and it looks too good & more yummy also, i will trying to make it this weekend with my hubby…Thanks for sharing,…..!

    Reply
  3. cathy says

    October 29, 2020 at 2:40 PM

    hello! Do you always cook the filling before rolling? Is it necessary? In the video you do, but in the written instructions, it’s skipped entirely.

    Reply
    • Lisa Le says

      November 20, 2020 at 1:56 PM

      Hi! you’re totally right, I did skip that in my instructions! I will amend.

      Reply
  4. Shayne says

    March 24, 2021 at 11:45 AM

    Which types of brands do you use for the veggie crumble or meatless portion of the filling? I’d love to try these!

    Reply
    • Lisa Le says

      March 25, 2021 at 2:17 PM

      I have used so many different ones! Yves, Lightlife, Beyond, you could also use a tvp seasoned with a vegan beef broth bouillon :)

      Reply
  5. Linda says

    March 30, 2021 at 9:28 PM

    Maybe I’m blind but can you tell me which Vegan fish sauce do you use? I’m slowly starting to change and the brand I’ve been locked down to is Red Boat (not vegan).

    Reply
    • Lisa Le says

      April 8, 2021 at 1:30 PM

      In the video on Youtube, you can see the bottle at 4:20 timestamp if that helps!

      Reply
  6. Violet Pickles says

    January 4, 2023 at 8:58 PM

    Yes! Yes! Yes! I modified the recipe a bit by making a sauce I saw on another larb gai recipe. Also, used the giant spring roll sheets and air fried at 400* for about 10 minutes. So good!

    Reply
  7. HL says

    February 7, 2024 at 9:50 PM

    I appreciate your website SO much! My husband is vegetarian, and I’m delighted to be able to introduce him to the food of my heritage thanks to your recipes.

    Do the plant-based grounds have to be cooked beforehand? What will the texture be like if you didn’t cook the grounds before rolling (basically treating it like ground pork, the way spring rolls are typically made)?

    Thanks!

    Reply
    • Lisa Le says

      February 18, 2024 at 2:04 PM

      I don’t find it needs to be cooked in advance! I find vegan mince can dry out if you cook it in advance. If you’re using something like Impossible or Beyond, it might be better to brown first, but I haven’t tried it myself.

      Reply

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