These are my Mother’s famous Egg Rolls. I think every cook should have a dish they perfect and be known for! We grew up in North Platte, Nebraska in the ’70s, and these babies were the talk of the town. My Mom, who spoke no English, made friends through feeding people Chinese food. Now, we’re talking about an itty bitty town where “gourmet” was the restaurant inside the local airport. Chinese food back then was “Egg Foo Young” and “Chop Suey.” To this day, our friends who still live in North Platte still remember my Mom’s famous Egg Rolls. When I went off to college and moved away from home, I craved these Egg Rolls and would beg Mom to make them when I came home to visit. In fact, there were a few times that I came home just for the food. I think that’s why she never taught me the recipe until just 4 years ago. It was her secret weapon to get me to come visit! The skin is light and crispy (unlike the thick, starchy and chewy ones that you find at most Asian restaurants), the filling is airy, delicately seasoned, and full of wonderful textures.
Its a long recipe and takes time to make, but I usually make about 50 of them at a time and freeze half. Sometimes I host an “Egg Roll Party,” gather my girlfriends and we make a couple hundred to divide between us.
Spring Roll vs. Egg Roll? Well, my family has always called the fried version “Egg Rolls.” Its confusing, and there isn’t a so-called standard of what each of those names mean. The best explanation I found is here.
Egg Roll Wrappers: They are sometimes called Spring Roll Wrappers. (They are NOT: mu-shu wrappers, lumpia wrappers, rice-paper wrappers) They are found in the frozen section in the Asian market. Buy an Asian brand. Do not buy an American brand found in the produce department that look like pasta sheets. Those are too thick and have way too much starchy-ness to them. Just not the same.
Freezing Egg Rolls: Freeze them immediately after you roll the Egg Rolls. Line them up single layer on a tray (see photo below) - and place in the freezer. Once they are frozen, you can put them in a freezer zip-lock bag and store in the freezer. If you don’t put them on a tray first, they wrappers will stick to each other and you’ll end up with a giant frozen clump-o-eggroll. To cook, just fry them frozen. They will take a little longer to fry up, but will taste just as good Re-heating Egg Rolls: Lets just say you happen to have leftover fried egg rolls - which NEVER happens in my house, but lets just say…. Cover the leftovers and place in refrigerator. The next time you are hungry, like at 2 a.m., pop them in your toaster oven or oven directly on the rack. 375 for 5-8 minutes. They will crisp up again nicely. If you microwave, they’ll end up hot, soggy eggrolls. Still good, but soggy.
Golden Rules: There are 3 ancient Chinese secrets to making the best Egg Rolls. Here they are: 1. Take care of the wrappers - To defrost the wrappers, place on counter-top for 1 hour, or refrigerator overnight. Do not put in microwave or defrost in water. It will ruin the delicate wrappers. Once you open the package, them the wrappers covered under a damp towel. They will dry out otherwise and crack. 2. Filling ingredients must be dry, otherwise they will make the Egg Rolls soggy and won’t fry up well. You can do why my Mom taught me, tilt the pan and prop up one end to let the liquid drip down. Then you can easily spoon out the extra liquid. 3. Cover the wrapped egg rolls. Keep them under a damp towel so that they don’t dry out. Once you wrap them, keep them on a single layer on a baking sheet (see photo below). If you aren’t ready to fry right away, cover with plastic wrap and place in refrigerator. For another great recipe using egg roll wrappers, try my Firecracker Shrimp with Sweet Chili Sauce!
My Mother’s Famous Chinese Egg Rolls
1 lb center-cut pork loin, trimmed & cut into very thin strips
1 package of Spring Roll/Egg Roll Wrappers, defrosted
Marinade Ingredients:
2T soy sauce
1 ½ T rice wine
1 t cornstarch
¼ t sugar
1 t sesame oil
Filling Ingredients:
¼ head of cabbage
3 medium sized carrots
½ cup canned bamboo shoots
6 dried Chinese black mushrooms, soaked in water overnight (*you can use fresh shitake mushrooms instead)
2 T Chinese rice wine
3/4 t sugar
2 T soy sauce
1 t sesame oil
½ t cornstarch
2 t salt
½ t ground pepper
3 garlic cloves – through garlic press
Marinate the meat: -Combine the above and add the pork. Toss to coat – marinate in refrig for at least 10 minutes.
Prepare Filling: -In food processor with shredder attachment (or you could do this on hand grater) – finely shred the carrot and cabbage. Place in large bowl. -Squeeze mushrooms dry and discard stems. Mince the mushrooms (or use food processor with regular blade). -Cut bamboo shoots into match-stick sized pieces. -Add to vegetable filling mixture all of the rest of the seasonings in the ingredient list.
Fry the Ingredients: -Heat wok or large fry pan over high heat. Add 2T of cooking oil and heat until very hot. Add pork only. Stir-fry 2 minutes, or until cooked. -Remove and place on a baking sheet to cool. -Reheat the wok. Add 2T cooking oil. Stir-fry the vegetable filling mixture. If you have a small wok or pan, you may have to divide and stir fry half at a time. Stir fry for about 5 minutes, or until the cabbage and carrots are softened, but not soggy. Add this to pork. -Spread the mixture around – mixing the pork and vegetable. Set aside to cool, with the baking sheet tilted to one side to allow all juices to drain to one end of the sheet. Remove any juice. Also with several paper towels, pat the top of the mixture, soaking up any extra oil/juice.
Wrap the Egg Rolls: -Open package of defrosted wrapper – cover with damp towel at all times. -To make the “paste” – combine 1/2 cup of water and 1 tablespoon of flour or cornstarch. Take one sheet of wrapper. Place 1-1/2T to 2T of filling on corner of wrapper, leaving the corner itself free. Fold over that corner, roll up half way. Fold over left and right corners to middle. Using finger or brush, dab the flour paste on the remaining corner and edges of the wrapper. Finish roll and press to secure. As you roll the Egg Rolls, make sure you cover them with slightly damp towel so that they don’t dry out.
Fry the Egg Rolls: Fill wok or large pot with oil – enough so you have at least 2 inches of oil. (You could use a deep fryer). Heat oil until 375 degrees, or until a cube of bread will fry to golden brown within 10 sec. Cook the egg rolls 4 at a time, turning constantly until golden brown. Place on wire rack or on paper towels to drain.
It’s Chinese Wonton Noodle Soup time! A great dish to make for the Beijing 2008 Olympics! This is recipe 5 in the series (see links at the end for the other recipes)
(link is right above photo when you get to CBS site)
just click on the “featured video” right below the recipe name. And yes, I flubbed saying the number eight in Mandarin! It’s “baa” not “baat” (which is how I say it in Cantonese).
