Rolling With The Egg Rolls

Ask me where I want to go out to eat and at least 7 out of 10 times I will choose to eat at an Asian restaurant.  Some days, I find myself craving an eggroll for lunch and I'm too lazy to run to my local take-out establishment for just one and if I had the audacity to try to get one delivered the employee that answered the phone would probably laugh at me as they told me it was a $10 minimum order...even though they ALSO charge a $3 delivery charge.  Damn, gas prices!

After trying many different recipes and tweaking them to my taste buds, I came up with a yummy recipe that is fairly easy to make.  I have also found that once rolled, they can be frozen for months until the next time I whip out the deep fryer for a yummy snack.

Don't forget to read the whole recipe through before you make your shopping list.  There are also a few dipping ideas at the end.  Enjoy!

What You’ll Need For Savory Egg Rolls:

1 lb. ground pork

1 tbsp. vegetable oil

1 small head of cabbage, chopped

1 tbsp. garlic, minced

¾ cup carrots, minced

1 cup mushrooms, minced

3 tbsp. soy sauce

½ tsp. ground ginger

1 egg

1 tbsp. water

1/8 tsp. salt

½ tsp. pepper

20 egg roll wrappers (I prefer spring roll wrappers because they are thinner but I have trouble finding them at most grocery stores.)

Vegetable oil for deep frying

1.)  Heat 1 tbsp. vegetable oil in skillet.  Once heated, stir fry pork, breaking up chunks. 

Drain meat and transfer to mixing bowl.  Set skillet aside for vegetables.  Preheat deep fryer to 150 degrees Fahrenheit. 

2.)  Add cabbage, garlic, carrots, mushrooms, and ginger to the same skillet that the meat was stir fried.  Stir fry until tender. 

Add salt and pepper.  Mix well.

 

3.)  Transfer vegetable mixture to mixing bowl.  Combine vegetables and meat well.  Stir in soy sauce.

4.)  In a separate bowl, beat the egg and water together.  Set aside.

5.)  Spoon roughly 2 hearty tbsp. of the mixture onto an egg roll wrapper set in front of you in a diamond shape. 

Fold bottom tip up just enough to cover mixture. 

Fold in both side corners. 

Roll wrapper up to top tip. 

Brush a little of the egg mixture onto the edge of the wrapper to seal.

6.)  Deep fry egg rolls in hot oil. 

Allow to drain and cool slightly before serving.

Suggested sauces:

Thai Sweet Chili Sauce (sold in the Asian section of most grocery stores)

Mae Ploy Thai Sweet Chili Sauce

Duck Sauce

Ty Ling Duck Sauce

Tangy Mustard Sauce

1 cup soy sauce

2 tbsp. Chinese mustard

Combine well until mixture is smooth.

Kame Hot Chinese Mustard

Sweet Pepper Sauce

1 cup soy sauce

¼ cup brown sugar

1 tbsp. Sriracha Hot Chili Sauce (It is a thick red sauce similar to ketchup and is also known in some areas as spicy chicken sauce because it has a rooster on the bottle.)

Sriracha HOT Chili Sauce (Tuong Ot Sriracha)