Classic Egg Rolls
2 min readThese freeze well — merely drain after cooking, wrap individual rolls tightly in plastic wrap, and store in a freezer bag. When you want to enjoy later, unwrap and heat in the toaster oven.
Makes 15 egg rolls
Ingredients
1 ⁄4 cup canned bamboo shoots, sliced
1 tablespoon oyster sauce
1 tablespoon chicken broth or stock
1 ⁄2 teaspoon sugar
2 tablespoons oil for stir-frying
6 large fresh mushrooms, thinly sliced
1 stalk celery, thinly sliced on the diagonal
1 ⁄4 cup water chestnuts, thinly sliced
1 cup fresh mung bean sprouts, drained
2 green onions, thinly sliced on the diagonal
1 ⁄2 pound barbecued pork
15 egg roll wrappers
3 tablespoons cornstarch mixed with 2 tablespoons water
4–6 cups oil for frying
1. Thinly slice the bamboo shoots. Combine the oyster sauce, chicken broth, and sugar. Set aside.
2. Add 2 tablespoons oil to a preheated wok or skillet. When oil is hot, add the mushrooms and stir-fry for about 1 minute. Add the celery, then the water chestnuts, then bamboo shoots, stir-frying each for about 1 minute in the middle of the wok before adding the next vegetable. (If the wok is too crowded, stir-fry each vegetable separately.) Add more oil as necessary, pushing the vegetables up to the side of the wok until the oil is hot. Add the bean sprouts and the green onions.
3. Add the sauce to the middle of the wok and bring to a boil. Add the barbequed pork. Heat everything through. Cool.
4. Heat 4–6 cups oil to 375°F. While the oil is heating, prepare the wrappers. To wrap, spread a heaping tablespoon of filling in the middle of the wrapper, evenly spread out but not too close to the edges. Coat the top edge and the sides with the cornstarch/water mixture. Fold the bottom half over the filling. Fold the top half over, making sure the 2 sides overlap. Press down to seal all the edges. Continue with the remainder of the egg rolls. (Prepare more cornstarch and water if necessary.)
5. Deep-fry the egg rolls until they turn golden brown (2–3 minutes). Drain on paper towels.
