Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Eggrolls

Recently I reconnected with a good friend from high school, Tammi. We hadn't seen each other in over 10 years and it was great to catch up with her again. What was the basis of this reunion you may ask? Eggrolls. Tammi's mom made the BEST eggrolls my young palette had ever experienced. They weren't cabbage based eggrolls like most Chinese restaurants, no rather these rolls were filled with delightful clear noodles, egg and beef. They were simple and delicious. I had been trying to recreate these babies for years with no luck. Thanks to facebook I messaged my old friend to see if her mom would be willing to share the eggroll recipe with me. I was delighted when she said yes, and even offered to come over to show me how they're done!

The delightful clear noodles used in these eggrolls are bean threads. They are made from mung beans - the same bean that we get bean sprouts from. You have to soak the threads in hot water first to rehydrate them before use. They are unexpected in eggrolls, honestly these eggrolls are the only ones I've ever known to have bean threads in them. Its those bean threads that set this roll aside from others. Well that and fish sauce. Seeing as how the creator of these eggrolls is Thai descent it makes sense that she uses fish sauce in them. Fish sauce is salty and if used in large quantities can have an overpowering fishy flavor. If used judiciously it adds a nice mellow salty flavor, not at all fishy.

After you've got the filling ready to go, all that's left is rolling. It takes a little bit of practice to get it right; too little filling and the rolls fall apart in the hot oil. Too much filling and the rolls are hard to roll and can burst while frying. I found that it takes about 3T of filling to make a nice plump eggroll. We were able to get 2 packages of eggroll wrappers stuffed and had about 2 cups of filling left over still. The extra filling could be frozen for future eggrolls; I think my leftover filling will find its way into a salad with a sesame ginger dressing. The eggrolls freeze nicely before frying.

Eggrolls
makes at least 24 rolls
Source: Tammi's mom SueBun
2 packs eggroll wrappers
1 pack bean thread noodles
6 eggs, beaten - reserve 1 for sealing the rolls
about 1/2 lb bean sprouts
1 lb ground beef
4 cloves garlic minced
up to 1T fish sauce
oil for frying

Begin by soaking the bean threads in hot water to rehydrate. You'll need about 1/2 to 2/3 of the package of bean threads.

Heat a wok or large skillet over high heat. Once hot scramble eggs (5 of them, reserve 1 for sealing the rolls). Once cooked remove and reserve.

Add about 1T oil to the wok and cook garlic until it just starts to brown. Add the ground beef and break up while browning. Once browned add the bean sprouts, stir well. Add the scrambled eggs to the beef. Now drain the bean threads and snip them with scissors into smaller pieces. Add bean threads to the beef and stir well.



Add fish sauce to taste. Start light and add more as needed. Fish sauce is similar to soy sauce in it salt content. If you use too much it'll have a fishy flavor, which is not what you're going for here. 4 times around the wok to start with, stir well and taste. Not seasoned enough? Do it again. I ended up doing 3 installments of fish sauce to get the seasoning where it was needed.

Start rolling the eggrolls by placing about 2-3T of filling on the eggroll wrapper, placed on a diagonal. Pull one end up over the filling, rolling it and using the end to help tighten the roll. Roll 1/2 way up the wrapper before folding in 2 of the sides. When you have a small triangle left at the end cover that with beaten egg and finish rolling. Press to seal.

Fry eggrolls in 350F oil. Cook until golden brown. Remove from hot oil, drain and serve with sweet chili sauce and soy sauce. Enjoy!




Nutrition Facts provided by SparkPeople recipe calculator
Amount Per Serving
~*~Nutrition info is based on an unfried eggroll. Add approx 75 calories per eggroll when deepfried. The fat will change also, however the amount depends on length of time in oil, type of oil used, etc.~*~
Calories 150.7
Total Fat 4.6 g
Saturated Fat 1.7 g
Polyunsaturated Fat 0.4 g
Monounsaturated Fat 1.9 g
Cholesterol 62.6 mg
Sodium 169.9 mg
Potassium 73.2 mg
Total Carbohydrate 19.6 g
Dietary Fiber 0.6 g
Sugars 0.8 g
Protein 7.7 g

12 comments:

Unknown said...

I love that last shot... Nicely done :) I also love that food brought you and friend back together again!! The eggrolls look and sound fantastic!

The InTolerant Chef ™ said...

Fantastic, I love these noodles and use them for most things as they're gluten free. I can even get them as instant pot-noodles! It's wonderful how you and your friend re-connected over food and memories. Lovely story and lovely recipe.

Stephen C said...

In addition to being dessert-phobic, I do not deep-fry. So, I will make egg rolls a la Andrea using those clear rice noodle wraps that you soak in water but then don't need to cook them further. You can, of course, put almost anything inside them.

Siri said...

I will come over the next time you want to make these, thank you very much.

Amy J. and Tiffanie A. said...

I freaking love egg rolls! Yours look amazing! I tried to make them once and I could not get them to stay rolled was a messy kitchen and I never tried it again! I will need to try this though looks fantastic!

Unknown said...

Wonderful eggrolls. These look utterly delicious.

Yenta Mary said...

Those look SO amazing! I've never been ambitious enough to make my own egg rolls. I might just invite myself over to your house, though I'd at least offer to help make them and learn from the master while I was there ... :)

Cranberry Morning said...

I wish you were my neighbor and I could beg food from you. LOL

Thanks for the rebuke to the Glen Campbell in my head. I do appreciate it! :-)

Unknown said...

now that is good friend! I LOVE EGGROLLS!!! I equally love your plan for thr leftover filling! Delicious idea! Also...sorry about being MIA I have been frustrated w/blogger commenting issues, I have to go thru a bunch of steps before commenting and then it doesn't even always go thru - !?!? So annoying!

anthony stemke said...

Nice post, beautiful eggrolls. I've many eggrolls, mostly with cabbage, but these too. And Phillipine too. They are all great.
Thank You.

Big Dude said...

I just love eggrolls and while we've often discussed it, we've never made them. Yours look delicious.

Ma What's 4 dinner said...

I
COULD
DRINK
THAT
SAUCE!!!!

Yum!

Lots of yummy love,
Alex aka Ma What's For Dinner
www.mawhats4dinner.com

Related Posts with Thumbnails