When I think of eggrolls, I think of the big, fat, golden brown ones with perfect bubbling in the skin that I used to get with my grandpa at his favorite Chinese "joint" in Delray Beach, Florida. They would serve fried squares of eggroll wrapper with a big bowl of sweet and sour sauce as their version of a bread basket when you arrived. I spent a horrible, Seinfeldesque Christmas Eve there waiting, waiting, waiting to be seated.
This is my version, based loosely on the Woks of Life recipe. I sub in bacon usually for the char siu - I’m usually too lazy to either go pick some pre-made from the asian grocery store or to make it myself. It reminds me of one of my friend’s signature fried rice that she’d always promise at potlucks (I never remember actually tasting it though!). This recipe makes a TON of eggrolls, so I usually bake them until the wrapper sets, then freeze and reheat at your leisure. This time, I tried shallow frying, air frying, AND baking so you can see the difference!
Ingredients:
8 cups savoy cabbage (shredded)
8 cups green cabbage (shredded)
2 cups carrot (shredded)
2 cups celery (shredded)
3 scallions (chopped)
2 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons sugar
1 tablespoon sesame oil
2 tablespoons peanut or vegetable oil (plus more, for frying)
1/4 teaspoon five spice powder (optional)
1/4 teaspoon white pepper
3 cups roast pork (char siu, shredded or diced) or 1lb bacon (baked and chopped)
2 cups cooked shrimp (chopped, optional)
1 package egg roll wrappers (about 24 pieces)
1 egg (beaten)
Shred the cabbages, carrots, and celery in your food processor with the shredding attachment. Try not to stab your hand like I did when you cut the cabbage into manageable chunks.
Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Put the cabbage, carrots, and celery into the boiling water and cook for about 2 minutes. Transfer the veggies to an ice bath and drain. [I forgot the ice bath this time, it didn't make a difference.]
Thoroughly squeeze out all the excess water from the vegetables (you can put the drained veggies in a clean kitchen towel and squeeze out the water or squeeze with your hands). This is a very important step because if the filling is too wet, you will have a wet filling and soggy egg rolls!
Once dry, transfer the veggies to a large mixing bowl. Add the scallions, salt, sugar, sesame oil, 2 tablespoons oil, five spice powder (if using), white pepper, roast pork/bacon, and cooked shrimp (if using). Mix everything together.
To wrap the egg rolls, take a small fistful of filling, squeeze it a little in your hand until it is compressed together, and place it on the wrapper. The wrapping method is similar to that of a burrito. Just add a thin layer of egg to make sure it stays sealed. Use egg as a sealant wherever dry wrapper will need to bond with dry wrapper. Line them up on a lightly floured surface, and continue assembling until you run out of ingredients.
Three cooking options:
In a small pot, heat oil to 325 degrees. You don't need too much—just enough to submerge the egg rolls. [Note I did a shallow fry with just a ¼ inch of oil. Carefully place a couple egg rolls into the oil, and fry them for about 5 minutes until golden brown. Keep them moving in the oil to make sure they fry evenly.
Spray your airfryer basket and egg rolls with avocado oil and airfry on 400F for about 8-10 minutes.
Or, Spray with avocado oil and bake at 400F for ~30 minutes (until golden brown).
Cool slightly and serve! Freeze leftovers in freezer bags and reheat them in the oven at 350 degrees, until crispy.
Here you can see the shallow fry (top) vs air fry (bottom) results:
There's nothing like frying in actual oil, but is it truly necessary to get delicious egg rolls? Nope. The air fried rolls were tasty and crispy, but without that heavy oily feel. I just wish that I'd had some sweet and sour sauce - instead these were dipped in sweet chili.