Does anyone make egg rolls at home?

[cbayer]

I bought some egg roll wrappers on an impulse, then got a few things I felt I might need to make eggrolls - cabbage, scallions, carrots. I also have some sausage and some boneless chicken breast.

But I have never made them before and am not quite sure what to do. There are surprisingly few recipes on the net.

How do you make them?

:hi:

[grasswire]

1. here's what I do

mince the meat and season it with fresh ginger and garlic

julienne all your veggies, or chop them very fine

fill a small bowl with water

lay your egg roll wrapper down on the table (large wrappers? or small?)

put your filling in a horizontal line about 2/3 of the way down on the wrapper. Probably 2 tablespoons or so of filling + vegetables. You'll have to adjust the amount to your liking.

Turn in the sides of your wrapper

turn up the bottom of your wrapper

dip your finger in the water and moisten the top edge of your wrapper

roll the wrapper up to the top edge and press the moistened edge down to make a seal

ready to fry

[cbayer]

2. Great! I have large wrappers.

So you don't cook anything that goes in the filling?

:hi:

[grasswire]

4. I cook the meat

just until done. Especially as a novice, it's probably important to cook the meat first. Then mince it with the garlic and ginger. You could put a tiny bit of soy into that if you wish, too.

Don't forget a dipping sauce. Soy, rice wine vinegar, whatever. Or maybe you have something on hand already like Mae Ploy sauce or something similar.

[cbayer]

6. I have some gyoza dipping sauce from TJ's, but I might just make a soy and hot sesame oil

concoction.

Can't wait. Will try this tonight and report back.

Thanks!

:hi:

[Horse with no Name]

19. I sautee the meat

and I also sautee the veggie's slightly.

I have used corn starch in the past but the last batch I made I used an eggwash to seal it up.

I think I liked the egg better.

Good luck.

[Arkansas Granny]

3. It's very important that you moisten the top edge with your finger.

If you pick them up and lick the edge before you finish rolling them, it's a dead give-a-way.

[cbayer]

5. LOL! Will keep that in mind.

:hi:

[Beacool]

10. Hmmm, they sound delicious.

I have to try it sometime.

:9

[Lucinda]

7. Bill makes them all the time. They are sooo much better than pre-made.

Bill will most often use ground chicken but will use any leftovers too. We always precook the meat for eggrolls.
He makes a chiffonade of the cabbage and chops whatever veggies we have on hand.
Then does a quick stirfry of the veggies, mostly to wilt the cabbage and adds the meat with a little garlic, salt & pepper, and finally adds a bit of oyster sauce at the very end.
Cool filling then wrap and fry until golden.

I like to make a thinned Hoisin sauce for dipping, and I like duck sauce too, but Bill is a soy boy.

[cbayer]

8. I have some chicken, but no grinder, so I will try and chop it to death after cooking.

You have a deep fryer, don't you? I will be doing this in some oil in my cast iron pan. How deep do you think?

:hi:

[Lucinda]

9. I wouldn't worry about getting it too small - just enough so it makes it in a nice sized bite

And nope. No fryer here. We just use a large saucepan with a few inches of oil. It will cook a couple at a time and goes pretty fast. We make fairly large ones normally.

[pinto]

11. Coming in late here. I make mine a skinny, crispier 'Spring Roll' style.

Prep the veggies - classic is finely slivered, but shredded works as well. Soak in chicken/beef broth or a vegetable broth, with soy, hoisin or such, while you set up the wraps and get the oil going.

1 inch of oil works to fry these.

Shred cooked meat for the filling. Shrimp, my favorite, I slice lengthwise and add raw.

Drain the veggies but leave moist. Basically this is a steamed dish, the frying provides the heat and a tasty crust for the filling.

Lay out a wrap, coat all edges with egg white and add filling. Fold and tuck like an envelope. Roll a bit to seam the package.

Egg, roll...

I make these about the size of a cigar, so they cook fairly quickly. Add hot oil or red pepper flakes to the oil at the outset to give the wrap some zest.

:hi:

[csziggy]

12. I made stacks of them one year when we had a big crop of bok choy

From our garden. Fried them in a big cast iron pot. Frozen dozens. Once we finally finished eating them, I didn't have egg rolls for years afterwards!

The other day I saw Emeril make egg rolls and he baked them rather than fry. Since I seldom ever eat fried anymore this has me intrigued. I think I may try egg rolls again and see how baking them turns out. Here is his recipe: http://planetgreen.discovery.com/food-health/emeril-baked-egg-rolls.html

[Tesha]

13. A News Years Eve tradition...

cut chicken or pork into thin shreds and soak in a mixture of cornstarch and soy

shred cabbage and onions and carrots

stir fry the meat with garlic and ginger

throw in the veg and fry until it wilts

spoon into a colander to drain and cool a bit

spoon and roll into your wrappers remembering to moisten the edge

fry in a few inches of hot oil and drain well

duck sauce or hot mustard for dipping

eat 'em up - yum!
:9 :9 :9 :9 :9 :9 :9 :9

[cbayer]

14. Well, I made them and they were just ok.

I think my big mistake was the wrappers I got. They were in the refrigerated section and were just too thick.

I should have been tipped off by the "lasagna" in the list of things they could be used for, lol.

the filling was good, though, and they fried up really nicely. Just too much wrapping.

Thanks to everyone for the help and advice. I will be trying again soon.

:hi:

[Lucinda]

17. I started to say something about the filling to wrapper ratio and got sidetracked

It's a delicate balance. But it will work with the thicker wrappers too...if you have enough filling.

Sorry they didn't turn out well. They rock when they do.

[The empressof all]

15. I've made this recipe

Time consuming but delicious.

http://allrecipes.com//Recipe/Filipino-Lumpia-2/Detail.aspx

[hippywife]

16. Love this thread!

A friend and I made them exactly once way back when we were in our 20's. :D

I think I'm up for doing this again. Thanx for starting this thread. Got the wheels turning, ya know? :hi:

[furgee]

18. No ones adds peanut butter??

I know that might sound strange but that is how we were taught by some Chinese friends. Basically any left over meat is fine. Just dice it up. Cabbage is shredded and steamed. After the steaming place in a colander with something heavy on top to dry it out as much as possible. Mix creamy peanut butter with the cabbage and then add meat and anything else you have on hand. The peanut butter binds and holds everything together. You will never taste the peanut butter but it really does add a special taste. Sorry if any of you have allergies to peanuts but I cannot imagine egg rolls with out it.