Monday, November 4, 2013

Homemade Egg Rolls



I have been on a serious Chinese buffet "roll" lately!  My favorite hometown restaurant is called "Happy China" and the staff at Happy China and I are now on a first name basis LOL.  The food is consistently delicious and I can get a buffet one-trip to go, which makes me one happy girl!  However, this isn't such a good thing on the old budget.  I find that my Happy China buffets are adding up and I need to find something just as good that I can eat at home and leave eating Happy China as an occasional treat.

I decided this weekend to make my hubby one of his favorite meals ever, Hawaiian Chicken.  Hawaiian Chicken is one of those things that I like to eat, but I never think to make it.  I decided this was pretty close to the chicken I get at my favorite Happy China restaurant.  I decided to make Homemade Egg Rolls to go with our meal.  I figured the crispy egg roll wrapper would fill my need for dipping yumminess (I love to dip in the sauce/rice... YUMMO!) although I typically eat crab rangoon when I eat Chinese buffet.

My Homemade Egg Rolls turned out delicious!  I have made homemade baked egg rolls and they are great.  I love them, but this time I was looking for those crispy, blistered looking rolls of sweet shredded cabbage and spices.  Personally, I'm never very fond of the meat in egg rolls so I made mine without meat but you could chop up a little cooked meat and include in your filling if you want.

My Homemade Egg Rolls were not hard.  They didn't take very long at all to make.  I got them ready earlier in the day and then fried them as I was making dinner.  I used bagged coleslaw mix so I didn't even have any chopping to do. 

Here's how I made Homemade Egg Rolls AT HOME MY WAY:

Homemade Egg Rolls
 
  • 1 package egg roll wrappers (I found these near the produce section of the grocery store)
  • 1 bag of coleslaw mix
  • 1 teaspoon minced onion
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 4 Tablespoons oil
  • 2 Tablespoons soy sauce
  • 2 Tablespoons stir fry sauce
  • 1/4 cup water
  • Oil for frying
Instructions:
 
Filling
 
In a skillet, drizzle the oil around in the skillet.  Add the soy sauce and stir fry sauce.  Turn the skillet on and stir these to combine.  When the skillet is hot, add the water (it will sizzle) and the minced onion and the garlic powder.  Stir. Add the coleslaw mix and cook, stirring often until partially cooked.  I just kept stirring from bottom to top until the cabbage was stir fried but not cooked all of the way.  This doesn't take very long.
 
Egg rolls:
 
Open the egg roll wrappers and place them one at a time on a small plate for assembly.  Turn so the points are at 12 o'clock, 3 o'clock, 6 o'clock, and 9 o'clock.  Wet the edges with fingers dipped in water.  Place a scoop of the cooked cabbage across the center.  Fold the bottom point up and over the filling, then fold the 3 o'clock and 9 o'clock points over the filling, then finish wrapping (like you would for a burrito).  Place these egg rolls on a plate or cookie sheet until frying.
 
Frying:
 
Place about 3/4 inch of oil in a skillet.  Once it is hot (I drop a drip of water in and once it sizzles, it's ready), gently place the egg rolls in the oil.  Turn to flip once they are brown on the bottom.
 
Drain on a paper towel or cooling rack.
 
I froze my leftovers once they were cool in a gallon baggy for rewarming in the oven the next time I make Hawaiian Chicken.  Sorry Happy China, but I might be getting my fix at home these days!
 

 
 
I shared this recipe at Carole's Chatter
 
Enjoy!
 
Gina