Egg rolls are one of the things that aren’t hard to make but do require a bit of time, even with some of the time saving tricks I’ve learned.  If you can find a willing participant to help with some of the chopping and egg roll rolling (wrapping? folding?…uhhh LOL) it speeds things up and makes it more fun.  Add to that some good wine, if you so choose, (I typically cook with some kind of libation in my hand) and it can actually be a fun night in!  And now you know what Mr. E and I do on Friday nights LOL.  Also, I think once you have the basic recipe you can modify this so many different ways.  One ingredient that I don’t include in my egg rolls, but is commonly found in other recipes and at restaurants is Chinese Five Spice.  I find it to have a very distinct flavor, and do not care for in most dishes but especially egg rolls.  However, I did want to mention it because many people do like it.

To go along with our egg rolls we had a Pak Choy salad with Asian Vinaigrette and Barely Asian, Asian Soup.  Remember all of that Pak Choy that I needed to find a use for?  Well, making a salad was one of the quickest and easiest ways I could think of.  I am still amazed at the taste difference of certain fresh vegetables when compared to store bought.  Pak Choy is one of them!  I really think anyone could grow this, even if it’s just in a pot or window box.  I am by no means a gardener and I was able to grow these fairly easily – my only really battle was with the caterpillars.   Sorry, I got carried away with my “you can garden too” talk. 🙂 lol 

For the salad I added thinly sliced red pepper and bean sprouts to the Pak Choy, but I think any salad ingredients would go really well with the Asian Vinaigrette.  It has just a hint of sweetness, but really good sesame and ginger flavor.

My first suggestion if you’re good at planning meals in advance is too make the egg roll filling one night and then roll and fry the egg rolls the second night.  I’ve done it all in one evening and it’s not a big deal, but when I break it up into 2 nights I usually enjoy myself a bit more.

Suggestion number 2: buy the packed cole slaw mix (the already shredded cabbage and carrots).  It’s just so much easier than finely chopping the cabbage and carrots.

So, I’m a bit neurotic and pinched all the “yucky” ends of the bean sprouts off…

And cut some of the longer ones. 

A personal pet peeve is when I bite into an egg roll and a lot of the good stuff comes out in that one bite.  Does anyone know what I mean?  Maybe I just don’t really commit to each bit I take and fully crunch down on stuff…LOL. But I just hate that, so you’ll find that I often cut food into “shorter” sizes.  Ha ha.

After I cooked the onions, mushrooms, ginger, garlic and bean sprouts in the sesame oil, l added the Cole Slaw mix and remaining seasonings/sauces. I don’t use a lot of flavoring for my egg rolls because I know I want to serve them with a dipping sauce (usually that bright red sweet and sour for Mr. E and then soy sauce for me).  However, definitely make the recipe yours by increasing the flavoring amounts.  Some chili sauce or Sriracha would give it a nice kick.

I’ve never tried to make my own egg roll wrappers, the store bought ones are perfect for me, though finding the location of them in your local Frys or Safeway can be challenging.  Sometimes they are in the produce department and sometimes they are in one of those randomly placed refrigerator units with the tofu. The nice thing is that on the back of the packaging there are great pictures and instructions on how to roll the egg rolls.

Egg Roll Recipe

1 tsp. minced ginger

1 clove garlic, minced

3 mushrooms, chopped

½ cup of bean sprouts

¼ cup sliced onion

¼ cup water chestnuts, chopped

1 ½ tsp.  sesame oil

1 16 oz. bag of Cole Slaw mix with carrots

2 tablespoons water

2 to 3 tsp. soy sauce 

1 tablespoon bottled teriyaki sauce

Egg Roll wrappers (store bought)

Dash of seasoned rice vinegar

 

Add sesame oil to a big sauté pan or a wok if you have one; on medium heat.  Add ginger and let cook about 1 minute, just so the oil sort of becomes infused with the ginger.  Add onion, bean sprouts, water chestnuts and mushrooms. Cook approximately 5 minutes, enough for the onions to become translucent, but not long enough to brown.  Add garlic and cook about 30 seconds to 1 minute.  Add the bag of Cole Slaw mix, water, soy sauce,  seasoned rice vinegar and teriyaki sauce.  Cook until cabbage softens, but not cooked all the way. Maybe 5-7 minutes. 

 

Let mixture cool.  Place a heaping spoonful onto the center of an egg roll wrapper and fold according to package directions.  In a deep skillet, add a couple of inches of oil, enough to cover the bottom half of an egg roll.  Fry until golden brown on one side and then flip the egg roll and fry until golden brown on the other side.

 

Asian Vinaigrette

½ tablespoon of minced ginger

1 garlic clove, minced

½ tablespoon sesame oil

2 ½ teaspoons seasoned rice vinegar

1 teaspoon sugar

Dash of soy sauce

Salt and pepper

 

Add all ingredients to a bowl; wisk well.  Let sit about 10 minutes so all of the flavors can really blend together.  This dressing was even better the next day!  (Aren’t most things though). 🙂