Egg Rolls

These homemade egg rolls are a family recipe that has been passed down from each generation! They are filled with pork and lots of vegetables, wrapped tightly in a thin egg roll wrapper, and fried to golden perfection. Making and eating these rolled pockets is a form of love that is shared with everyone around!

Growing up my Gong Gong and PoPo would always come to visit us in October around Halloween. My parents are from the East coast but due to my Dad’s job we lived in the Midwest. When my Gong Gong and PoPo would come to visit, I always knew there would be lots of egg rolls made! My mom didn’t allow frying in the house, so my grandparents would get creative and fry on the deck. I’m so glad they did because I have endless memories of how to cook the filling, seasons it just right to your liking (my grandparents always measured with their eyes and they taught me this beautiful art as a little kid), wrap and roll the egg rolls tightly with precision, and fry them! I wasn’t allowed to be close to the frying area, but I would make sure to grab a spot on the deck that I could see everything that was happening. Since they lived so far away, the best part was they anticipated our egg roll eating wants and would make huge batches to freeze! This way we were stocked on them for the year and could pop an egg roll into the toaster oven whenever we wanted one. It was my was my favorite after school snack!

With saying all that, it is perfectly acceptable to freeze egg rolls.

FREEZING EGG ROLLS

Here’s what you need to do:

• Place egg rolls on a parchment lined baking sheet

• Flash freeze until completely frozen

• Store in a freezer zip lock bag and remove all air

• When you are ready to eat, place in the oven OR air fryer at 400 F degrees and cook for about 12 - 15 minutes or until crispy and hot

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Egg Rolls

Ingredients

Meat Marinade

• 1 lb ground pork

• 6 garlic cloves

• 2 tbs soy sauce

• 1 1/2 tbs sesame oil

• 1 tbsp water

• 1 tbsp whiskey

• 1 tsp salt

• 1/2 inch ginger, minced or grated

Filling

• 1 onion chopped fine

• 2 carrots, sliced matchsticks

• 3 celery stalks, sliced matchsticks

• 1 8 ounce package beansprouts

• 7 dried mushrooms, soaked and diced

• 8 ounces bamboo shoot strips

• 8 napa cabbage leaves, sliced

• 3 tbsp soy sauce

• 1 tsp oyster sauce

• 2 tsp black pepper

Remaining Ingredients

• Egg roll wrappers

• Oil for frying

Instructions

• Combine all the meat marinade ingredients together and marinate for at least 8 hours to overnight

• In a skillet over medium heat, add oil and brown meat. Spread meat to the outside perimeter of the pan and add onions in the middle. Cook onions for 1 -2 minutes or until soften and add in celery and carrots. Cook for another minute, then add in mushrooms. Once the mushrooms begin to soften, about a minute, add in bamboo shoots and cabbage. Continue to stir vegetables and add in bean sprouts. Give everything a good stir together and make a small circle in the middle of the pan pushing the vegetables and meat to form a circle around the pan - this will help steam everything. Place the lid on top and cook for another 3-5 minutes

• Remove the lid and add in the soy sauce, oyster sauce and black pepper. You may add cornstarch if the filling looks too wet. Move the pan off the heat and prepare to roll the egg rolls

• Placing the egg roll wrapper in a “diamond” add the filling to the bottom third of the wrapper. Fold the lower point of the wrapper up and over the filling and tightly roll upwards. Dip your finger in water and outline the remaining perimeter of the egg roll wrapper with water - this will help seal the egg roll. Fold the left and right corners inward over the filling, it should now look somewhat like a letter with the envelope open. Tight roll the egg rolls upwards until the top corner is fully sealed on the egg roll. Continue to wrap all egg rolls until the filling is used up or you run out of wrappers

• Heat oil to 370 F degrees in a large heavy bottom pot. Fry egg rolls until they rise to the top, about 5 -7 minutes or until golden brown. Tilt egg roll vertically to drain as you remove from pot. Place on a baking sheet with a cookie cooling rack on top - this helps the oil drip down, so the egg rolls won’t sit in it and become soggy. Serve with sweet chili sauce and enjoy

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