Chả giò

Chả giò(Vietnamese:[ca᷉ːjɔ̂]), ornem rán, also known as fried egg roll, is a popular dish inVietnamese cuisineand usually served as anappetizerin Europe, North America and Australia, where there are large communities of theVietnamese diaspora. It is ground meat, usually pork, wrapped in rice paper and deep-fried.
The main structure of a roll ofchả giòis commonly seasonedground meat,mushrooms,vermicelli, and diced vegetables such ascarrots,kohlrabiandjicama, rolled up in a sheet of moist rice paper. The roll is then deep fried until the rice paper coat turns crispy and golden brown.
The ingredients, however, are not fixed. The most commonly used meat ispork, but one can also use crab, shrimp, chicken, and sometimessnails(in northern Vietnam), and tofu (forvegetarianchả giò- 'chả giò chay'). If diced carrots and jicama are used, the stuffing is a little bit crunchy, matching the crispy fried rice paper, but the juice from these vegetables can cause the rolls to soften after a short time. If the rolls are to be stored for a long time, mashedsweet potatoormung beansmay be used instead to keep the rolls crispy. One may also includebean sproutsandrice vermicelli. Eggs and various spices can be added to one's preference.  Sometimes, the ingredients can includejuliennedtaroroot andcarrotsif jicama cannot be found.  Taro roots give it a fatty and crunchy taste.
Chả giò rếis an uncommon kind ofchả giòthat usesbánh hỏi(thin rice vermicelli woven into a sheet) instead of rice paper. The stuffing inside the roll is the same as normalchả giò, and the roll is also deep fried. As the sheets ofbánh hỏiare narrow, and the rice vermicelli strands are brittle,chả giò rếrolls are often small and difficult to make. They are only seen at large parties and restaurants.
Chả giòcan be eaten by itself, dipped intonước chấmornước mắm pha(fish sauce mixed with lime juice or vinegar, water, sugar, garlic and chili pepper), or served with rice vermicelli (inbún chảgiò).
Usually it is served with a dish ofrau sống(raw vegetable) containing several kinds of vegetable such as lettuce, coriander, etc. It is very common to wrap the chả giò in lettuce before eating it.
There can often be confusion as to what exactly is meant bynemdepending on the circumstances. In Vietnam, there can be confusion between northerners and southerners because northerners tend to use the termnemto refer to a variety of different rice paper rolls containing meat, includinggỏi cuốn, which Northerners callnem cuốn(often referred to in western restaurants as "salad rolls"). The southerners, however, tend to adopt a more narrow definition ofnem, using the wordnemto only refer to ground meat food items likenem nướng(literally "grilled sausage", a minced pork sausage mixed infused with crushed garlic andfish sauceand then grilled).
Further confusion can occur outside of Vietnam because the English translation ofchả giòvaries according to restaurants' menus,chả giòis often confused with other dishes such asegg rollsorsalad rolls. Aschả giòmade withbánh trángcan easily be shattered when fried, and also stay crispy for only a few hours, restaurants outside of Vietnam have adopted wheat flour sheet to makechả giò, in place of rice paper, thus blurring the difference betweenchả giòand the Chinese egg roll. Besides that, there is also a kind of roll called Nem cua bể (crab spring roll). Crab spring roll is considered the two most representative dishes for the culinary processing style of Hai Phong people and has main ingredients made from crab meat, mushroom, carrots and some other vegetables then fried and served with vermicelli, vegetables.