So we LOVE egg rolls, especially as a starter before a stir-fry meal or pork fried rice. Take out egg rolls are hit and miss. So are store-bought egg rolls – sometimes okay, most of the times bland and forgettable. Several years back, we tried making them from scratch with a very involved recipe and they were terrible – we just chucked them. We knew we could do better.
So this is our take on simple, tasty egg rolls that are awesome. We generally keep some slow-cooked pork butt in the freezer (that’s another simple but awesome recipe), so this is a great way to utilize that porky goodness.
This recipe makes about ten egg rolls.
Ingredients:
- 4 C Nappa cabbage, shredded
- 1 C carrots, grated
- 1 C celery, grated
- 3 green onions, chopped
- 1 t salt
- 2 t sugar
- 2 t sesame oil
- 1 T peanut oil, (plus more, for frying)
- 1/4 t five spice powder
- 1/4 t white pepper
- 2 C roast pork, shredded
- egg roll wrappers (10-12)
- 1 egg, beaten
Heat a pot of water on the stove to boiling and then add the cabbage, carrots and celery and cook for two minutes. Pull from the pot with a slotted spoon and drop into an ice bath to stop the cooking. When cooled down, put the veggies into a kitchen towel and squeeze out the excess water.
Transfer to a large mixing bowl and fluff them up. Add the green onions, seasonings, oils and pork and stir to combine. Your filling is ready to go – give it a taste to see if you want to add anything else to the mix.
Heat about two inches of peanut oil up to 325 degrees – just enough to cover the rolls. As the oil is heating, make your egg rolls. Use the beaten egg with a brush to paint around the edges and then add your filling and roll up (you can find “how to roll egg rolls” videos on YouTube – super simple once you get the hang of it.)
Pro tip: we use a laser temperature gun to check the oil temp for anything we fry. So much neater and easier than sticking a frying thermometer in the oil. Just stir the oil around a bit before you do a reading.
Working in batches, fry the egg rolls for about fives minutes, until they are a rich golden brown, and drain on a cookie rack over some paper towels. Keep them moving constantly in the oil (but gently!), and they’ll cook up nice and even.
When done, you can serve with some dipping sauces or let cool down fully and freeze (they freeze very well). If serving frozen egg rolls, let thaw and then pop into a 350 degree oven for about ten minutes, and they’ll be super crispy.
We serve ours with homemade sweet and sour sauce, Chinese mustard and hot chili oil for the dipping sauces. Enjoy!
