Lots of them!
It's party time--(Insert Happy Dance Here : ) And here is my famous homemade egg roll recipe never before given out to anyone. But hey, it's almost New Years Eve and these are just too delicious not to share with friends. As you can see, they fry up gorgeously golden brown and taste out of this world!
This batch makes about 40 egg rolls depending on how accurately you measure the filling. Believe me, after filling and rolling so many, one starts to get a bit sloppy : ). This has absolutely nothing to do with Margarita's, Daqauri's or the Ginniest of Tonics! This is a large party recipe, so if you need less, just cut it in halves, thirds, whatever. You can freeze leftovers, cooked or uncooked.
The great thing about this recipe is you can use pork, chicken, shrimp or go vegetarian. The ingredients and seasonings go with which ever you choose to use. Don't forget to make the sweet and sour sauce. This is a super easy sauce that taste better than anything you can buy at the market and it's a lot less expensive.
Ingredients:
serves up to 20
makes 40
2 ½ to 3 pounds pork, chicken or shrimp, cut into 1/4 to ½ inch cubes or use cocktail shrimp
1 large head cabbage, shredded small
Want to skip this step? Buy a large bag of pre-shredded coleslaw mix!
4 16 oz. cans of Chinese mixed vegetables or chowmein or chop suey vegetables
1 14 oz. can of bean sprouts
¼ cup oyster sauce (optional)
4 tablespoons soy sauce
½ tablespoon each of salt and black pepper
3 tablespoons garlic powder
3 to 4 cups peanut or vegetable oil, for frying
(Careful not to overfill pot with oil!)
1 tablespoon oil, for browning meat
2 packages egg roll wraps, each package contains 20 wraps
Found in the produce department of your market
Directions:
In a large stock or soup pot, heat 1 tablespoon cooking oil over medium high heat and brown cubed meat. When meat is cooked and browned, remove from pot and set aside in bowl. Add shredded cabbage to same pot and saute until wilted and tender. Add drained cans of Chinese vegetables. Add meat back to pot. Add oyster, soy sauce and seasonings. Cook until heated well and remove from heat. Important: Drain entire pot of filling in colander well. Remove as much liquid as possible. Follow the steps below to for a perfect finish. Enjoy!
Lay wraps at an angle and fill with 2 to 2½ tablespoons of filling.
Fold sides in (as if making a burrito) and begin to roll starting with the end closest to you. For a crispier egg roll. roll firm enough to keep closed, but not too tight.
Dip finger in bowl of water and moisten tip end of egg roll wrap well to form the glue to hold it all together. Finish rolling and press end firmly closed. As you can see from the white tips of my son's fingers, it really does turn glue like. By the way, he is an expert
roller now and is the official roller every New Years Eve.
Rolled egg rolls before frying.
Fill a heavy bottomed pot or use a deep fryer filled no more than 2/3 of the way up with oil. Again, don't overfill! For best results, fry no more than four at a time. When egg rolls are golden brown, remove from oil and drain on a rack or paper towels.
Cooks Notes: It is important to drain the filling well in a colander before starting to fill wraps. The liquid that accumulates in the pot from the cabbage and sauces will cause the egg rolls to get soggy and fall apart before they can be fried. It's also a good idea to have two people to prepare the egg rolls. One person to roll and one person to fry as they are rolled. Don't pile egg rolls on top one another before frying. They will stick together and tear.
Sweet & Sour Sauce:
3 cups chicken stock or water
1/2 cup ketchup
2 teaspoons soy sauce (light or regular)
2 tablespoons vinegar
1/2 teaspoon each salt and pepper
1/2 teaspoon ginger powder
2 tablespoon honey
2 tablespoon white sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch + 3 tablespoons water
Mix cornstarch with water and set aside. Whisk all other ingredients together in a sauce pan and bring to boil. When mixture is boiling, add cornstarch water and whisk well. When sauce thickens and turns a glossy red, turn off heat. It's ready!
For those of you that don't want to use canned Chinese vegetables, here is a list of fresh vegetables to use:
8 ounces fresh mushrooms, sliced and chopped
1 medium onion, minced
2 carrots, shredded
2 stalks celery, cut diagonally
6 to 8 water chestnuts, sliced (I can't find them fresh in my area, so I use a small can : )
1 pound fresh bean sprouts
Saute all ingredients along with the cabbage until tender and follow directions above.
