Homestyle Egg Rolls
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Recipe Type: Main Course
Prep Time: 
Cook Time: 
Total Time: 
Serves: 4-6
 
A thin egg pancake is filled with a fragrant pork stuffing, providing a different take on the more popular egg roll.
Ingredients
For the filling:
  • 2 pounds ground pork
  • ½ pound shrimp, (about 12 individual), cleaned, shelled, and de-veined
  • 2 Tbsp. fish paste (optional)
  • ½ cup finely chopped shiitake mushrooms, about 8 mushrooms total
  • ½ cup chopped green onions, about one bunch, greens only
  • ¼ cup chives, optional (chives have a strong flavor which some people dislike)
  • 3 Tbsp. ginger, finely minced
  • 1 egg
  • ¼ cup soy sauce
  • 2 Tbsp. Chinese cooking wine
  • 1 Tbsp. Sesame Oil
For the egg pancake:
  • 11 eggs
  • salt and pepper
  • vegetable oil
  • 1-2 cups water or stock, for cooking
Instructions
  1. Finely chop the shrimp with a large knife or cleaver. The shrimp will easily become a smooth grey paste- when you are certain it does not have any chunks, add to the ground pork in a large bowl along with the rest of the ingredients.
  2. With a wooden spoon, stir the ground pork and other ingredients until fully incorporated. The mixture should be a little wet, sound sticky when mixed, and smell very fragrant.
  3. In another medium-large bowl, crack all 11 eggs and beat well. Ladle out ¼ cup of the mixture, and set aside. This small amount will be used as a binding ingredient to close up the seam of your egg rolls as you assemble them. Season the rest of the beaten egg with a pinch of salt and pepper.
  4. On your kitchen counter, preferably close to the stove, set up a station where you will assemble your egg rolls one by one. You will need: a shallow pan to keep the finished rolls (preferably a large pyrex or something similar), a cutting board or any other flat surface to roll up the eggs, the meat mixture, and the ¼ cup of plain beaten egg.
  5. Turn your stove onto a medium-low heat. When the pan is hot, using a brush- or as I prefer a paper towel dipped in oil- coat a 12-inch nonstick skillet with oil.
  6. Pour ¼ cup egg mixture into the pan, quickly picking up and tilting the pan in a circular motion to ensure that you fill in any holes with the egg mixture and that there is a thin layer covering the pan. Make sure to act fast, as the egg will quickly begin to set (the first one is never very good, but don’t give up!) Place back on the heat for 30-45 seconds.
  7. When the bottom is congealed, but the top is still a bit raw, slide the egg pancake onto your cutting board at your station. Using a rubber heat-proof spatula to pry it off the pan helps, if necessary. It’s fine if the top of the pancake is still wet- in fact this is optimal, as it helps the ground pork mixture stick better to the inside of the egg roll.
  8. Taking one large spoonful, or about ¼ cup, of the pork mixture, spoon and form into a horizontal log at the edge of the egg pancake closest to you. Starting from this end, start to roll your egg pancake upwards away from you, making sure to roll it up as tight as you can without pulling and tearing on the egg pancake. Depending on your patience and the perfectionist within (or whether this is for personal consumption or for guests), fold in the edges midway through rolling like a burrito, to make what looks like a true egg roll.
  9. To close the seam, dip your fingers into the beaten egg that you had set aside, and coat 3-4 inches across the top arc of the egg pancake. This will help seal the edge. Place, seam side down, onto a glass or any other non-reactive dish.
  10. Continue repeating steps 6-9 with the remainder of the eggs and stuffing with the meat mixture, wiping the pan with oil between each pancake. Hopefully you will become efficient at the process, and as you fry one egg pancake can roll the previous one. Most likely you will have some ground pork leftover (the ratio is never correct), which you can make into meatballs or better yet- freeze for making dumplings and wontons.
  11. Once you have finished assembling the egg rolls, in a large wok or pan pour in a couple tablespoons of vegetable oil. Making sure the temperature does not go above a medium high, place any or all of the egg rolls onto the skillet, turning to cook couple of minutes on all sides. (Here is where you would add napa cabbage and vermicelli, if making a family-style dish) then pour in one cup of water or meat stock, cover, and turn the temperature down to simmer. After 5 minutes, uncover- if the liquid is low, add another ½ cup of water or stock and let cook until most of the liquid is gone, about another 10 minutes.
  12. Take the egg rolls out of the wok or pan and using a pair of tongs to help, slice into 1-inch pieces. Serve immediately.
Notes
This recipe produces about 16 10-inch egg rolls, which is usually more than enough for a dinner to serve 4, since each roll can be sliced into 8-10 pieces. I like to cook up half of the egg rolls this recipe makes, and freeze the rest for another evening. To re-heat, simply thaw and follow the cooking directions in Step 11. Or simply halve the recipe. Also, fish paste and Chinese cooking wine can be found at any Asian grocery store. If it doesn’t suite you, feel free to leave out the fish paste.
Recipe by Honest Cooking at https://honestcooking.com/will-the-real-egg-roll-please-stand-up/