Vietnamese Egg Rolls

1/2 lb ground beef

1/2 lb ground pork

1/2 small yellow onion, diced fine

1 garlic clove, minced or pressed

2 eggs

1 bundle bean thread noodles, cooked and chopped (See note)

1 1/2 Tb fish sauce

1/2 tsp black pepper

2 tsp sugar

1/4 tsp salt

Dipping sauce:

juice of 1 & 1/2 limes

1 garlic clove, minced or pressed

1/4 cup sugar

2/3 cup hot water

3 Tb fish sauce

1 package egg roll wrappers (or rice paper wrappers, if you prefer)

peanut oil for frying

green leaf lettuce, rinsed

English cucumber, sliced

more bean thread noodles, boiled and drained (optional)

Start with the dipping sauce. Put sugar in a small, 2 cup-ish tupperware container. (or other small lidded container) Add hot water and stir till sugar dissolves. Stir in garlic, fish sauce and lime juice (lime pulp is good too!) Put in the fridge to cool.

In a small pot, cover bean thread noodle bundle with water and set to boil. Chop the onion (as small as you can get it!) Mix onion, meats, eggs, garlic, fish sauce, pepper, sugar, and salt in a large bowl. The noodles should be ready by now, remove from pot and drain water. Chop noodles up and add to meat mixture. Mix all very well! Prepare your rolling work space: something to roll on (cutting board), something to put finished rolls on (cookie sheet), a small bowl of warm water, and a spoon.

Cut wraps in half diagonally, making triangles. (If you are familiar with rice paper wraps and prefer those, go for it!) Place a heaping tablespoon of meat in the middle of the long edge.

Fold each side corner over the meat. Roll the bottom up to the top, leaving a tab at the top. Wet that tab with some warm water, and pull it over to stick. Got it?? It's okay if they start out awkward, they'll still taste good!!

When you have about half of your rolls well... rolled! start your oil heating. In a large skillet or flat-bottomed saucepan, heat oil about half as deep as your eggrolls. Does that make sense? When your eggrolls sit in the oil, the oil should come halfway up their sides. Heat to medium high. When your eggrolls go in, they should turn white around the edges.

If they turn gold quickly, turn your heat down a bit. Cook for 3-4 minutes on first side, till golden, then flip. Cook for 2-3 minutes on the second side. I always pull out a tester and cut it in half to make sure they're cooked through. Remove and place on a plate or pan covered with a paper towel to soak up extra oil.

Serve with torn pieces of lettuce and slices of cucumber.