This summer we got together with some girlfriends for a "Wrap & Roll" party. We all brought ingredients for delicious egg rolls, spring rolls, and lettuce wraps. Of course the fun was in the chatting and eating, but it was cool to learn how to make these delicious Asian favorites.
With Chinese New Year upon us (January 26!), it's the perfect time to host your own "Wrap & Roll" party and try out our authentic egg roll recipe. Stacy's mom is Chinese, and she graciously invited us over the other day to make a couple of batches. You don't even need a traditional wok to make them--just a large frying pan will do. Besides being so yummy, my favorite part is that you can freeze the extras (before frying) and pull them out anytime!
Chinese Egg Rolls Recipe
Ingredients:*Spring roll pastry (you can find these at most grocery stores, but the kind at specialty grocery stores are better)
*Approximately 1 lb. ground pork, chicken, or turkey
*2 carrots, grated
*2 small onions, sliced thin
*1/2 head of cabbage, sliced thin like cole slaw (you can buy a bag of shredded cole slaw w/out sauce if you prefer)
*Bean sprouts
*Other optional ingredients: small shrimp, spinach or snow peas (sliced thin)
*2 Tbsp. soy sauce
*1 tsp. sesame oil
*1 egg
1. Slice/grate your veggies very thin.
2. Brown meat until cooked thoroughly. You may want to add 1/4 c. water to pork when cooking if you have a low-fat percentage.
3. When meat is cooked, add veggies and soy sauce and sesame oil. Cook and stir 2-3 minutes--overcooking will cause your veggies to get soggy.
4. Drain veggies in a colander and let cool, or the mixture will ruin your pastry.
5. When your mixture has cooled, open your spring roll pastry. Don't open too early--they'll dry out. Also, plan on using the entire package at once. They won't keep once they're opened. Just peel off a couple at a time.
Crack an egg in a small dish and lay out a pastry.
6. Spoon some of the mixture onto the pastry wrap near the corner closest to you.
7. Wrap fast! Fold the corner up and wrap tightly around mixture as shown.
8. Dip a finger in your egg white and wet the two corners of the wrap. (This is important to keep the wrap sealed until it's fried.)
9. Fold corners over and press to seal.
10. Continue to roll, almost to the end.
11. Using more egg white, seal the last corner to the roll.
12. Repeat until all the wraps or mixture are gone. If you want to freeze some, this is the point you need to do it. Flash-freeze them on a cookie sheet for about an hour, then place in a freezer bag in the freezer. To cook them later, allow to thaw to room temp, then continue with frying instructions below.
13. Heat a few inches of vegetable oil in a deep pan. Place a few egg rolls in the oil at a time and fry until golden brown.
14. That's it! They were so easy I might just have to make them again this weekend. We like to serve them with sweet and sour sauce, but there are lots of different Asian dipping sauces out there that would be delicious also.
Bon appetit! Or should I say sihk faahn? (That means 'eat' in Chinese!)
