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