Saturday, February 24, 2007

Egg Rolls with Sweet & Sour Sauce



"I can resist everything but temptation"
Oscar Wilde.
And I say, I can resist everything but 'food temptation' !! An overwhelming desire to eat a plate of tantalizing dish Vs a strong determination to complete one month lent. Howzzat ??

Hmmm...now I see many of you nodding your heads :) Yes, it is hard and I was caught on one such battle last October when CJJ came home, on the 16th day of my lent, with a packet of golden brown, crispy, not greasy, neatly wrapped beautiful egg rolls, gifted by his Vietnamese colleague!! I cursed the moment I turned down CJJ’s offer to join me in my lent! I thought the best way to escape temptation was to yield to it but suddenly my conscience began to prick me; How can I yield to a silly food temptation over my determination to continue lent, to thank God for one of His blessings?? I tried hard, resisted and resisted …… finally I DID it. I took my share of the food and locked it in freezer for the next 14 days!!!! And, I relished those little beauties the day I broke my lent successfully after a month :)

These are delicious finger foods loaded with ground meat, vegetables and basic seasonings. Though a bit time consuming, one can always prepare them in advance and cook them just before your party begins. Our friend was kind enough to share the recipe with me and I tried it today and it came out quite well. Here’s the recipe :-

Ingredients for Egg Rolls:-
  • 2 cups cooked and ground chicken
  • 2 cups cooked and ground shrimp (optional)
  • 2 cups finely chopped cabbage
  • 1 cup finely chopped carrot
  • 1 cup finely chopped yellow onion
  • 1 oz bean threads
  • 2 eggs
  • One packet Egg roll skins or Spring roll pastry
  • 1 tsp Sugar
  • 1 tsp Pepper
  • Salt to taste
  • 1 cup oil for deep frying
Directions:-
  1. Pressure cook boneless chicken with some salt, ½ tsp pepper powder and 2 green chilies; once chicken is cooked and cooled, ground the meat in a mixer or food processor.
  2. Steam and cook the cabbage and carrot separately, adding a tinge of salt, until they re soft; drain them well and dry them on a paper napkin or a piece of cloth.
  3. Break the bean threads into small pieces and cook them as per the package instructions.
  4. Mix well the ground meat and shrimp, if any, finely chopped raw onions, cooked and dried cabbage and carrots, cooked bean threads and add sugar, pepper and salt and do a taste test. (One might require more sugar and pepper according to personal tastes). To this mixture, add a lightly beaten egg and combine well.
  5. To wrap, lay the square egg roll skins/spring roll pastry sheets in a diamond shape; place approximately 2 tsp of filling in the middle of the wrapper. Take the bottom point of your wrap and fold it over top of the filling. Fold the sides in towards the middle and tightly roll the filling towards the top point of the wrapper. Brush some beaten egg onto the top point as "glue" and seal it completely.
  6. Heat oil in a medium flame and slide egg rolls one at a time; deep fry in oil until they are golden brown and crispy, do not overcook the egg rolls; place the fried ones on a paper napkin to absorb the oil and serve them hot with Sweet & Sour dipping sauce. You get around 15-20 rolls.
For a step-by-step pictorial representation of folding the wrappers, click here.

Ingredients for Sweet & Sour Dipping Sauce:-
Recipe Source: Rhonda Parkinson, http://chinesefood.about.com
  • 1/3 cup white or rice vinegar
  • 4 tbsp brown sugar
  • 1 tbsp ketchup
  • 1 tsp soy sauce
  • 2 teaspoons cornstarch/all-purpose flour/maida mixed with 4 teaspoons water
Directions:-
Mix the vinegar, brown sugar, ketchup, and soy sauce together and bring to a boil in a small pot. Mix together the cornstarch/all-purpose flour/maida and water, add to the other ingredients and stir to thicken. When the sauce is thick, strain it to the dipping bowl to get rid of the clots and lumps.

Note:-
The egg rolls should be tightly folded to avoid the risk of a leaky filling while frying them. Also the cooked cabbage and carrot should not have any water content to prevent soggy egg rolls. Never stack the egg rolls on top of each other, before or after deep-frying. For freezing egg rolls before frying, wrap them in aluminum foil and seal in a plastic bag in the freezer - this will keep them moist. You may freeze the deep fried egg rolls too.

Luv
Shn
No part of the content ( articles, photographs, recipes) of this blog may be reproduced without my written permission.Copyright © 2007-2010 Kitchenmishmash.blogspot.com. All rights reserved.

29 comments:

  1. Hey Shn, nice recipe, but great snaps!! Very nicely presented. :)Just when I decide I'm going off non-veg, you come up with this tempting recipe!

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  2. Beautiful Egg Rolls

    Do you fast for one month, not eating anything ? Aren't you supposed to eat at the end of the day ?

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  3. Shn, beautiful picture and mouthwatering egg roll.Lovely presentation.Btw thanks for that halzelnut coffee tip..will give it a try soon.

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  4. Oh mine, they sound very delicious and very authenic! Egg rolls are one of my favorite snack, yes, can't resist on stopping at one :P

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  5. Hi shn,we went to Panda Express yesterday and I ordered Egg rolls and enjoyed it.Your's looks great,almost restaurant style.I might skip Shrimp,everything else sounds great.Thanks for link too!:)

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  6. Hi Shn, Chinese eggrolls -- that's really impressive!! They look lovely on the plate... I love your quote there, too. Congrats for sticking to your resolve -- you're a better woman than I :)

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  7. Really ur eggrolls make me to give up lent,but I cannot.. my hubby is also with me...So I will take a print out and keep that for the easter specials.As usual Lovely Presentation!

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  8. just yesterday i got some egg rolls, from the store.Picture looks very tempting...!

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  9. Ok that clears it up :) I got really worried, since I start thinking of lunch right after I have my morning breakfast cereal bar :)

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  10. saluting you for bearing the temptation to eat that delicious dish..i would have easily yielded and gobbled it like anything!!

    terrific snaps..that makes it even more tempting!!

    btw where do we get egg roll skins from??

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  11. yummy...though I don't eat meat...but I would gladly substitute some veggies in that!
    Nice pic.

    trupti

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  12. How can you not love eggrolls? And based on your beautiful photos, yours must be fantastic!

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  13. wow!!! Lovely presentation Mishmash
    Tuesday mornings I fast and now looking at the picture of the egg rolls ,I am already hungry..

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  14. it must've been hard to resist those!!! congratulations on your determination.

    - bee

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  15. beautifully presented again shn:) loved it. i keep making veg spring rolls which me and my hubby love. i have posted it in blog long back. will substitue meat with veggies and try ur recipe next time:)

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  16. Wow ! thats a beautiful egg rolls. Wonderful presentation.

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  17. Your delicious looking egg rolls reminds me of a chicken kathi roll i made long back,should blog about it sometime!

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  18. A very hard to resist temptation..:)
    Beautiful picture and an awesome recipe. Thanks for sharing the links too, Shn.

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  19. Nice Pictures. I generally make the veggie version with shredded carrots, cabbage and bean sprouts. will try the dipping sauce this way next time around. Thanks!

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  20. Oh I love spring rolls and I am sure I am gonna love your recipe. Will substitue meat with veggies and try them and let you know. Perfect winter weekend snack.
    -
    Seema

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  21. Hi Shn,

    The egg rolls look delicious! We usually bring home spring rolls from a nearby Thai restaurant.. they are yummy with a sweet cucumber sauce! So are u abstaining from non-veg for lent? I have a few friends here who do the same. And i know that only when u're suppossed to stay away from something it seems like u want it more :-)
    Cheers
    Latha

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  22. The egg rolls looks absolutely delicious. Would love to try one... with the sauce please!

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  23. THANK YOU all for coming back and leaving your comments. It means a lot to me.

    Jyothsna,Thank you :) U can try it once u finish ur lent.I hope temptations dont trouble u much:)

    Sandeepa,Looks like we re already done with clairfications :) Nice to see u again.

    Mahe, Thanks and I am sure u will like the hazelnut belgian coffee esply if u like the Cafe Latte from Starbucks :)

    Gattina, I was so happy to read that "authentic" word in ur comment coz u know it better.Yes, just cant stop with one ;)

    Asha,You re welcome . Btw, I did not add shrimp and still it tasted good. Do give a try, but pls serve with the sweet & sour sauce for sure,its really good :)

    Linda, oh, dont say that :) though it was hard to stick on, i am happy that i dint break the lent :) Thanks for all those nice words.

    Kitchenfairy,Oh, no pls dont give up ur lent; u can prepare this in advance for easter and just fry them when u want. dont yield to any temptations,dear :)

    Thush, Thanks :)

    Pravs, thank you, it tasted good too:)

    Mathew, hahah thanks :) You get egg rolls usually in asian stores or any store where u can find chinese or japanese groceries. It should be there in the frozen section.Usually comes in a packet of 25 and 50.U can buy the larger size as its easier to roll.

    Trupti, u can deft'ly avoid meat and just fill 'em with veggies.

    Susan,thats so nice of u to say that, thank you :)

    Prema Sundar, heheh, i know what u re talking about here :) when u re denied something, the craving is more :)

    Bee,Oh yeahhh.Thanks :)

    Sia,thank youuuu :) yes , I did check ur page after that .Do try and let me know :)

    Just for fun, Thanks so much :)

    Sumitha,oh that sounds nice..pls post it fast :)

    Sailaja,U said it girl! Really glad to read ur comments :)

    Hema,I like veg spring rolls too. U can deft'ly try the sauce, it goes well with spring rolls.

    Seema,pls do try and dont forget to make the sauce..coz its really nice :)

    Latha,Ohh i love thai rolls and that cucumber sauce.Very yummy right? Nope, I'm not on lent now, this happened in October ;)

    Mandira,ohhh...pls help urself :))Nice to see u coming back again.

    Hope to see you all again.Take Care

    Luv
    Shn

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  24. Beautiful pics!
    Thx for dropping by my page.
    Good day!

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  25. Shn,

    Am licking my lips already...Iam a lover of all the flour and egg based dishes...!! But I feel chicken meat gives a little dry effect in the stuffing...may be shrimp or veggies would do perfect...Recently tried bengali version by Mandira, wud try your version next version!!

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  26. I love egg rolls, and you have presented them so well...thanxs so much for sharing the recipe
    -Sushma

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  27. Bhargavi, Thank You :)

    A Yunus, as the name suggests, there is not much egg in this Chinese egg roll recipe. Since ground chicken is used, it wont be dry and I omitted shrimp. Do try this one with the sauce, it's really good :)

    Sushma, I am glad you found the recipe interesting. Thanks :)

    Luv
    Shn

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  28. Hey Shin, have tried your biriyani, and the black forest cake and the chicken roast so far and have to admit that all were finger licking yummy. Was wondering if you have any christmas recipies to share be it with starters, or main course or a christmas fruit cake or cookies. Really hope to get some awsome recipe from you on this occassion..Many thanks.

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