Cha ram recipe

From Wandering Chopsticks

I don’t know how to make the banana leaf-wrapped banh nam (Vietnamese steamed flat dumplings with pork and shrimp), banh it la gai, or banh tet that my ba noi (Vietnamese paternal grandmother) used to make. My one attempt to make her clear and chewy tapioca rice noodles for banh canh ended in mush. But I can make her other favorite — cha ram (Vietnamese shrimp egg rolls).

Cha ram (Vietnamese shrimp egg rolls). Photo from Wandering Chopsticks.

Most people are more familiar with cha gio (Vietnamese egg rolls) which are stuffed with pork, shrimp, bean thread vermicelli noodles, carrots, and mushrooms or tree ear fungus. But on the south-central coast of Vietnam, we make cha ram with just shrimp and green onions. That’s it.

Just two ingredients to make a light snack. I used to call all egg rolls cha ram too, but outside of my hometown in Vietnam, no one knew what I was talking about.

I recently discovered a couple of Vietnamese restaurants that specialized in the cuisine of my region, so imagine my surprise when I actually saw cha ram on the menu. Except their version includes just one shrimp inside an egg roll wrapper. Close, but not quite the same.

In Vietnam, my relatives would buy the smallest shrimp possible and leave the shells on to make cha ram. But if you prefer your shrimp peeled and deveined, my ba noi’s quick deveining tip was to slide the tip of a toothpick perpendicular underneath the vein and just pull it out.

CLICK HERE FOR THE RECIPE!!!!!