I love egg rolls. I particularly like making my own, as I can control what goes into them. Today, my savory little appetizers (or main meal) have pork as the main stuffing, but hey, if you want shrimp in there instead of pork, then by all means go for it.
Ingredients:
1 package of egg roll wrappers
(You can find these in the produce section.)
1 pound ground pork
1/2 - 1 cup shredded cabbage (depends on your tastes)
1/4 cup shredded carrot
1 garlic clove, very finely minced
1 large knob ginger, juiced and minced
2 TB soy sauce
1 TB Lea & Perrins Worcestershire sauce
kosher salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
About that ginger. I have a trick for juicing ginger. You cannot get any juice from fresh ginger root.
It's next to impossible. Soooo, what I do is buy whole ginger root, then cut into 1 inch cubes and freeze.
Whenever you need ginger, you'll always have it on hand and if the recipe calls for ginger juice, it's a simple process now to obtain it. Take a cube or so of ginger, put it in a small bowl, and nuke it for 20 seconds or so. Simply pick up the cubes and squeeze into the bowl. The juice comes out readily. After juicing, I'll run the ginger cube through a garlic press and scrape off the extruded pulp and use that too.
Egg Rolls
In a medium skillet, brown the pork, breaking it up with a wooden utensil. Stir in 2 TB soy sauce and 2 TB Lea & Perrins Worcestershire Sauce and season with kosher salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste. Add in cabbage and carrot stirring just until vegetables start to wilt. Slip in ginger and minced garlic; stir for a minute. Remove from heat and let cool a bit.
Egg roll wrappers are ready to stuff.
Easiest to show you how to position the wrappers and roll and fold instead of telling you, so scroll on down a few of the next how/what-to photos, and get to the wrapper part.
But here are the rest of the instructions first, so you know where you're going.
Egg Rolls, Continued
Correctly position egg roll wrapper and spread some pork mixture across the bottom.
Start rolling up, tucking in sides and pressing mixture evenly. When you get to the top and you're ready to seal the roll, I use soy sauce, not water, to brush around the edges. More flavor.
In a medium iron skillet, heat peanut oil to 350° to 375°. Ease in one egg roll at a time, not touching. Whenever you're frying something, always give it its personal space. I'm frying 4 at a time. Over crowding lowers the temperature of the oil ending in a greasy results. Keep the oil temperature at the optimum, and you are rewarded with a crisp, non-greasy product. Fry roundabouts 1 1/2 to 2 minutes each side, rolling a bit at the end to ensure the roll is golden brown all around. Drain on a rack, not paper towels, so the oil can drip away and not be absorb back into the egg rolls. And I believe that right there was another Rosie Tip. You're welcome.
When ready to serve, I have two dipping sauces for you - one savory, one sweet.
Sweet sauce:
2 TB apricot preserves
1 TB Chinese Plum Sauce
1 TB rice wine vinegar.
Stir until combined.
Savory Sauce:
1 ginger knob, peeled, juiced, and minced
1 garlic clove, finely minced
3 TB soy sauce
2 TB brown sugar
1 TB rice wine vinegar
1 TB Mirin
Stir until combined.
Add:
toasted sesame seeds
sliced green scallions
Now for the step-be-steps:
Brown the pork.
I like action shots.
Ginger and garlic are in. It's heated through and cooled a bit. When I'm letting the meat cool off for a few minutes like this, I try to position the pan tilted and the meat pushed up the pan's surface a bit so any excess oil can drain down and be spooned out. Now it's time to stuff and roll.
Stuffing and rolling the wrappers came somewhat easily to me,
due, no doubt, to a misspent youth.
Align the wrapper thusly.
Diamond-like.
And spoon on a helping of the pork mixture.
Resist the tendency to overfill.
Fold over the bottom point,
carefully tucking in the meat mixture,
and make a little triangle at the base.
Start rolling and tucking.
Roll up and over a bit,
tucking in the first side.
Tuck in the other side and tidy it up.
.
Keep rolling.
Fold in the sides.
And you get this cute little pouch.
Heh. Practice makes perfect.
Neaten it up.
Continue rolling.
And here's a Rosie Tip:
Instead of using water to brush along the edges to seal,
use soy sauce.
Always thinking about ways to sneak in extra little flavor favors.
The pork mixture will easily fill 12 egg roll wrappers.
I'm only doing 8 today.
Tomorrow or the next day,
I will stuff and roll the remaining four.
Do not stuff beforehand, then hold over until you fry.
Doesn't sound like a good idea to me.
And I'm thinking in terms of how the moisture and stuffing
might affect the texture of the dough in the wrapper
which would affect how it fries
and perhaps the absorption of oil
which would affect how bubbly and crisp the surface is
which ultimately and deliciously makes its way
to your willing but unwitting palate.
Or sometimes I just overthink things.
Iron skillet.
Peanut oil 350° - 375°
Give the egg rolls personal space.
Fry the first side about 1 1/2 - 2 minutes.
Tong over and do the flip side for about 1 1/2 - 2 minutes.
You might give the rolls a slight roll about at the end
to be sure everything is nice and golden.
Remove from heat and place on rack to drain.
Serve with 2 dipping sauces, one sweet and one savory.
I like to have some toasted sesame seeds and sliced green onions
for the sauces or just to sprinkle over the rolls.
