egg rolls

I usually try to stay to the healthier side of Asian cooking, but I'm willing to admit that egg rolls are a guilty pleasure of mine. I think everyone can admit that anything deep-fried is always pretty delicious. Except for deep fried Twinkies. Or deep fried butter. Wrong.

There's always been a debate over what constitutes an egg roll, a spring roll, or lumpia. I'm not really sure what category this recipe falls into, but it's delicious. That's really all I care about when it comes to food.

I chose to use some locally raised ground pork from Coon Rock Farm in Hillsborough, NC, delivered by Carolina Grown, but you can use any meat you like. I just like pork. A lot.

Egg Rolls

Yields 12-14 rolls

8 oz. ground pork (not lean)

8 oz. shredded napa cabbage

1 carrot, shredded

2 scallions, chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

12-14 egg roll wrappers

In a skillet over med-high heat brown the pork until done. Remove to a paper towel lined bowl to drain. Discard the excess fat in the skillet. Add the cabbage, carrot, scallions, and garlic. Cook until softened. Add the pork back in and heat and mix until combined. Remove from heat. Lay an egg roll wrapper on a cutting board with a point facing you. Put two tablespoons of filling on the wrapper and roll the point over the filling. Fold one side over onto the filling, roll again. Repeat with other side and use a dab of water to seal the wrapper. Repeat until all filling is used. Deep dry in 350º vegetable oil for 3-4 minutes or until golden brown. Set on a paper towel lined cooling rack to drain and cool.

Comments

[zoe]

I love spring rolls because they are healthier, but sometimes I do splurge for an egg roll. It is just so good!

[katie]

Your eggrolls look so good! I made some not too far back and they were greasy and totally unappetizing I had to resort to baking them in the oven instead. Of course I put pepperoni and mozzarella in them, that might not have helped.

[Mom]

Nice looking egg rolls, I bet they taste better than the last ones I had.

[Robin]

Zoe: I'm a big fan of fresh rolls, too. I'm starting to think anything in a roll just tastes better...

Katie: I used up some leftover wrappers with some various fillings (peanut butter and banana were a big hit), but had the same problem with anything that was super moist or greasy.

Mom: They were delicious!

[jive turkey]

So, we just made spring rolls for the first time this weekend (after taking a Thai cooking class), and we followed the instructor's advice for determining (sans-thermometer) how hot the oil needed to be...and those mothers got brown FAST. Like, there was no way we could leave them in for the recommended 3 minutes. I suppose our oil was too hot?

[Robin]

JT: I imagine that would be the case. To be fair the oil temp and cooking time doesn't matter as long as the filling is vegetarian or already cooked. If your filling was meat-free or already cooked, as long as they get brown and tasty it doesn't matter. For raw meat fillings it just has to cook long enough to make it safe - that's when the lower oil temp gets involved to allow for a long enough cooking time to cook them through.

[china sim card]

In our country this is called "spring rolls".Most of us like to eat "spring rolls".

[[eatingclub] vancouver || js]

Egg rolls are a guilty pleasure of mine too!