I had an appointment earlier this week and since I was near an Asian Supermarket I just had to stop in. I love going to them and this one was new to me. I must have been wandering through the isles of over 45 minutes looking for some of my favorite items.
I stocked up on Korean Red Pepper, seaweed sheets for making Sushi, egg noodles, rice noodles, pickled radish, Kimchi dumplings, rice cakes, sesame seeds, teriyaki sauce, sesame oil, curry paste, dumpling wrappers, egg roll pastry, and chicken feet for making stock.
Pork Egg Rolls
I sauteed a large onion and a red pepper and a shredded carrot until softened. I opened a jar of Mississippi Pork that I canned for the meat. I added some Korean red pepper, salt and mixed it well.
I soaked some rice noodles and chopped them up and tossed them into the mixture.
It's time to make the egg rolls, the wrappers had thawed and I had a beaten egg and a brush ready to baste the edge to seal the wrapper.
Start by putting some filling into the center of the wrap, then pull up one edge and start to roll, fold the sides in and baste with the egg wash, continue rolling and seal the tip of the wrap with more egg.
It is such a simple process, and it only took about 30 minutes to make ten rolls. But I had to make more filling to use up the last wrappers. They tell you not to refreeze them, so I had to use them right away.
Beef & Kimchi Egg Rolls
I didn't want to cut up more veggies, so I opened a jar of ground beef from the pantry and coarsely chopped up some Kimchi from the fridge. There were plenty of rice noodles left so I had enough stuff to make Kimchi and beef egg rolls too.
Repeating the same process as rolling the Pork Egg Rolls, I finished using up the wrappers, but I did end up tearing two of them which was due to them sticking together. The next time I make them, I will separate the sheets ahead of time, so they don't stick together, lesson learned.
Finally, it was time to fry the egg rolls. I knew I only wanted 5 for dinner that night, so I only fried them lightly until they started to brown. I planned on freezing a tray for later use and did not want to overcook them since they will be reheated at a later time.
It was actually fun making them for something different that I don't normally do for dinner.
I put them onto a paper towel to absorb any excess oil before putting them onto a parchment-lined tray to freeze them.
The egg rolls would not be the same without some sweet chili sauce, right?
All that was left to do was make a quick tossed salad and enjoy dinner with my husband. They came out so delicious with just using ingredients that I had on hand.
What do you think, would you take the time to make your own egg rolls? I enjoyed it and had to say they were much tastier than store bought ones. Then again, homemade always tastes better.
