Egg Rolls

Here's a quick how-to on making egg rolls. You'll need:

Egg Roll wrappers from your local grocery
Bean Sprouts
Carrots
Cabbage or Chinese Nappa
Green Onions
Bamboo Shoots
Garlic
Ginger
Soy Sauce
Shrimp, chicken, firm tofu, or a combination of all three.

If you don't have some of these- improvise! Use powdered ginger, lettuce, cooked ground pork- it's the form that's important, not the exact recipe.

Step 1 Cooking the filling

Heat a few tablespoons of peanut oil in a wok or skillet, and stir fry a littel garlic and ginger. How much? Well, how much do you like? Say a couple of cloves of garlic and a quarter teaspoon of grated ginger.

Add a cup of shredded cabbage, some shredded carrot, a cup of bean sprouts, maybe a quarter cup of cut-up bamboo shoot, a littel chopped green onion, and a half-cup of cooked shrimp, chicken, or tofu cut in small cubes. Cook well, and the set aside to cool in the fridge.

Comments

[Brian Roth]

In a pinch you can use flour tortillas for making burritos (large diameter).

[moesboy]

can you pan fry them?

[mje]

Yes, but it's a bit harder. You really need at least 1/4" or 1/2" of oil.

[dataphool]

Good description for something I like, I buy frozen. The community I live in has about 600 to 700 people at this time of year. The summer population is closer to 10,000 in 5 miles radius; but the summer people live without Chinese food. I was hoping to find a recipe for the shells as well as the in'ards. I will try to find wraps when next I go to town.

[mje]

Making the wrappers by hand is very difficult, as they're very thin. Here's a recipe:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup ice water
• Cornstarch
  

Start with half the ice water, and mix well. Mix in just enough additional water to make a stiff dough, and roll out on a well-floured surface.

[moesboy]

about how many will his make

[GhostlyKarliion]

Nice instructable, How much cornstarch should I use, and when rolling these out, how thick is best, paper thin, the thickness of a quarter? a nickle?

[mje]

Oops, sorry, you use the cornstarch to dust the rolling surface and to dust between pieces if you stack them up, to prevent stickingh. How thin? As thin as you can make them. Dime thickness would be something to shoot for.

[Tobita]

Canadian dime or American dime? or are the the same(las time i went to the states i was 18 mo. old when my dad went for a meeting in Virginia.

[Uthman]

i tried this out with various substitutions.. (sesame oil, diced chicken, no bamboo, no carrots, no tofu, bressle sprouts, etc..) but it turned out awesome and everyone over loved it

[noahw]

Did these fry up to be crispy on the outside but chewy and doughy on the inside? I have been looking for a good egg role recipe and this could be it. Sometimes egg rolls turn into spring rolls, but the egg rolls I was raised on had nice golden bubbling crisps on the outside, the half cooked dough on the inside, and then the oddly orange/yellow, but extremely tasty filling in the center. Delicious! Thanks for the recipe.

[mje]

That depends on the cooking temperature. The hotter the oil, the faster the outside will brown, and the less the interior will be heated. Personally, I like a thin and crisp exterior, and a crispy and fresh tasting interior.

[jtobako]

dip your finger in water and run it along the edge to be sealed in step 4. and, if you run out of time (like i always do) the filling only has to be 'not hot' in stead of 'chilled.' : ) what's your prefered temp for frying-or do you use a pan instead of a deep fat frier?

[mje]

Good point abrout the wetting. It's not as important here as in wonton, as you have less wetted area, but it helps. I use a deep cast iron pan or a wok, and medium heat- just enough so that a stream of bubbles issues from the tip of a chopstick stuck in it. That's the method I was taught.

[dataphool]

Thanks for the recipe, it sounds like a pie crust recipe except for the egg. I'll try it but what I mean is that I'll get my granddaughter to try it (she likes to bake and she likes Chinese. my daughter likes to bake but thinks rice is inedible. (I wonder if she's really my kid?)

[mje]

It's also a generic noodle recipe. You could probably use any egg noodle recipe.