Jim's Famous Egg Rolls

One of the reasons that I married my husband is that he makes a mean egg roll.

Fact.

Our son, Jason's, birthday was Saturday, and he requested egg rolls for his birthday dinner.  Usually I make a side of rice to go along with the rolls, but really, why bother? Everyone usually ignores the rice and dives right into the egg rolls.

Here are step-by-step instructions so you, too, can have people fawning over you when you make these:

DELICIOUS EGG ROLLS

ingredients:

1 - large boneless/skinless chicken breast
2 - boneless porkchops
1 - can tiny shrimp
2 - scallions
1 - bag of ready made cole slaw (or shred your own cabbage)
1 - egg
1 - package of egg roll wrappers
1/2 - tsp salt
1/2 - tsp sugar
ground pepper to taste
peanut oil (preferred but not necessary)
sweet/sour sauce for dipping
hot mustard for dipping

Drain and rinse shrimp. Set aside.

Slice up scallions and set aside.

Cut chicken and pork into bite-sized pieces.

Heat up your wok or pan, then add some oil. Wait a minute, then add 1/3 to 1/2 of the meat and stir fry. (If you add all the meat at once it will steam instead of fry.)

Yes, my pan is a little dented. Don't laugh. I think it fell out of the drainer when it was piled high with dishes and bounced off the floor. Hey - it still works!

Jim was so cute at this point of the cooking process - I was clicking away with my camera and he said, "Try to get this shot!" He was tossing up the meat with a flip of the handle on the pan, but my camera wasn't quick enough, or shall I say, that I wasn't SKILLED enough to get that shot. So the above photo was the after shot of when he was done flipping the meat. Just so you know!

Set all the cooked meat aside in a large bowl. Add a little more oil to the pan and stir fry the scallions. Then add the cabbage. Add the salt, pepper, and sugar.

Keep stirring to mix the onions into the cabbage and to cook the cabbage. When it is done, add the cooked meat and the shrimp. Stir altogether and cook a few minutes until everything is at the same temperature (about 2-3 minutes).

Pour into a bowl, cover with foil, let flavors "marry" and cool off for 1/2 hour to an hour. (We leave on the counter.)

TO WRAP:

Mix the egg in a bowl. Add a few drops of water to it. You will use this to "glue" shut the egg roll.

Egg roll wrappers are available in your grocer's produce section. This one had 18 in them; I bought 2 packages and we ended up making 26 egg rolls and throwing the rest of the wrappers out. I don't think they freeze well; you could twist them and deep fry them for appetizers and sprinkle some Parmesan cheese or powdered sugar on them.

You can see that the wrappers are a square. When you put the wrapper down on the table turn it slightly to be a diamond shape so a point faces your stomach. (I was taking the photo from the side!) Put a HEAPING tablespoon of filling onto the wrapper about 1 1/2" from bottom tip.

Bring the bottom corner up and fold over.

Fold in each side, then dab some egg wash at the top point before finishing rolling up.

Ready to be fried!

Heat oil. We do not use a thermometer. You can tell if the oil is ready by:

1) using the end of a wooden spoon. Insert the end in oil. If bubbles form around it, the oil is hot.

2) Throw a cube of bread in oil, if it browns the oil is hot.

Cook 2-3 egg rolls at a time. They cook fast so keep a close watch on them! Turn over every few seconds so they can brown evenly! Jim is using a tool called a "spider". Available at Amazon and other kitchen gadget stores.

YUM!!

The cake

The Birthday Boy!

Here is the recipe without the photos:


DELICIOUS EGG ROLLS


ingredients:


1 - large boneless/skinless chicken breast
2 - boneless porkchops
1 - can tiny shrimp
2 - scallions
1 - bag of ready made cole slaw (or shred your own cabbage)
1 - egg
1 - package of egg roll wrappers
1/2 - tsp salt
1/2 - tsp sugar
ground pepper to taste
peanut oil (preferred but not necessary)
sweet/sour sauce for dipping
hot mustard for dipping

Drain and rinse shrimp and set aside. Chop up scallions and set aside. Chop up meat into bite-sized pieces. Stir-fry meat in a small amount of oil. (Fry half of the meat at a time.) Set meat aside in a large bowl.

Add more oil to the pan. Stir fry scallions. Add the cabbage. Add salt, pepper, sugar. Mix well and stir fry until the cabbage is done. Add the cooked meat and the shrimp. Cook a couple of minutes until everything is the same temperature. Remove from heat and pour into the large bowl. Cover with foil and let flavors marry for up to one hour.

FOR WRAP:

Mix egg with a few teaspoons of water in a bowl.

Put wrapper on table with a point towards yourself. Place one heaping teaspoon towards the bottom point, leaving about 1 1/2 inches from the edge. Bring the bottom corner up and fold over. Fold in each side, then dab some egg wash at the top point before finishing rolling up.

Heat oil. Cook 2-3 at a time. Turn every few seconds for even browning. Enjoy!