My Mother's Famous Chinese Egg Rolls
Crispy and flavorful, these homemade pork and vegetable egg rolls are a delightful treat to make at home. The savory filling of ground pork, cabbage, carrots, and mushrooms is seasoned with a fragrant blend of spices and sauces, all wrapped up in a delicate, crisp egg roll wrapper. Whether you're serving these as an appetizer or as part of a main course, these egg rolls are sure to be a hit!
— Constant Cookbook
Ingredients
- 50 Spring/Egg Roll Wrappers (about 2 packages), defrosted unopened at room temperature for 45 minutes or in the refrigerator overnight
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch (or flour) mixed with ¼ cup of cool water to seal egg roll
- Oil, for frying
- FOR THE GROUND PORK
- 1 pound ground pork
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
- 1/4 teaspoon sugar
- freshly ground black pepper
- FOR THE VEGETABLES
- 2 to 3 cloves garlic, very finely minced
- ½ head of cabbage (about 11 ounces)
- 3 carrots, shredded
- 1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
- 10 fresh shiitake mushrooms (or dried black mushrooms soaked overnight), stems discarded
- 1 tablespoon cooking oil (canola, vegetable, peanut)
- 1 tablespoon Chinese rice wine
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1/4 teaspoon sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- Freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- To Make the Filling
- In a bowl, mix together the soy sauce, cornstarch and pork. Marinate at least 10 minutes. In the meantime, shred the cabbage and the carrots using your food processor or by hand. Slice the mushrooms into very thin strips (or you could use your food processor and pulse a few times to get a fine dice.
- Heat a wok or large saute pan over high heat. Add the cooking oil and swirl to coat. Add the marinated pork and stir-fry until no longer pink, about 2-3 minutes. Turn heat to medium-low, push the meat to one side of the pan. Add the garlic, cabbage, carrots, ginger and the mushrooms and stir-fry for 1 minute, until the vegetables are softened. Add the rice wine, soy sauce, sugar, sesame oil and black pepper. Continue to stir-fry for another minute. Scoop out the filling to a baking sheet and spread out to cool. Prop up one end of the baking sheet so that it tilts and will allow all the moisture to drain to one end. Let cool for 15 minutes.
- Wrap Egg Rolls
- Discard all of the accumulated juices. Use paper towels to blot the filling to rid of extra oil or juice. Now, you're ready to wrap (see step by step photos in the post for instructions on how to wrap).
- IMPORTANT: Only use 1 heaping tablespoon of filling for each egg roll. These are slender egg rolls, the width of the egg roll should only be 1.25" diameter.
- Keep the rolled egg rolls in neat, single layer and covered with plastic wrap to prevent drying. If you want to stack the egg rolls, make sure you have layer of parchment paper in between the layers to prevent sticking. Keep wrappers also covered with plastic wrap to prevent drying. Refrigerate up to 4 hours until ready to fry or freeze.
- Want to Freeze?
- If you want to freeze the egg rolls, lay the rolls in a single layer inside a gallon freezer bag. If they overlap, they might freeze and stick together. They can touch side by side, but try not to overload bag. When ready to cook, do NOT defrost, or they will be a soggy, deformed mess. Fry the egg rolls frozen (see below).
- To Fry the Egg Rolls
- Fill a wok or pot with 2 inches of high-heat cooking oil. Heat the oil to 350°F (175°C) or until a cube of bread will fry to golden brown within 10 seconds. Gently slide in or lower the egg rolls, frying 4 to 6 at a time, turning occasionally until golden brown about 1½ minutes. Place on wire rack to drain and cool.
- NOTE: To fry frozen egg rolls, do not defrost the egg rolls – just add them to the oil frozen, frying 4 to 6 at a time. Add an additional 1½ minutes to the frying time since they are frozen.
Cook Time
0M
Prep Time
PT0M
Yield
Makes 50 egg rolls
Nutrition
- Calories: 85 kcal
- Carbohydrate Content: 12 g
- Protein Content: 3 g
- Fat Content: 2 g
- Cholesterol Content: 8 mg
- Sodium Content: 167 mg
- Serving Size: 1 serving
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