Who doesn't love a good egg roll? My husband and I will often get chinese food when we decide we dont want to cook, because Chinese food is NEVER A BAD IDEA. Now we can have this yummy dish at home!
I can't take all of the credit for this recipe, my mother in law showed me a version of this when my husband and I first started dating. Once my (now) husband joined the military and we moved across the county, I realized that company parties were going to be a big part of our life. The military becomes a home away from home and the family that you never knew you needed.
The photo below is of one of the first party food trays that I made for a company Halloween party and it quickly became a hit! (I used a plastic skeleton that I disassembled and washed thoroughly along with the plastic ear, eyeball and finger that are in the sweet chili sauce to make it both delicious and festive) People started requesting the egg rolls anytime a party was planned. These gatherings brought me some of my closest friends and usually consisted of lots of homemade foods, visiting and karaoke.
I made a few changes to the origically recipe to make it our own and to add some of our favorite flavors. My husband and I like some kick to our tastebuds so naturally we use Jimmy Deans hot sausage and if that is unavailable, I add a dash of red pepper flakes. If you're making them for a crowd (or even want some leftovers readily available), I highly recommend scaling up the recipe by 2, 3 or even 4. The most I have done is 4 and I have found that my dutch oven is able to fit all of the ingredients for the mixture without overflowing.
List of Ingredients for Egg Rolls
tri color coleslaw mix
jimmy dean breakfast sausage
yellow onion
soy sauce
minced garlic
ginger
eggroll wrappers
oil for frying
water
cornstarch
Step 1:
Place a large pot or dutch oven on stovetop over medium heat. Add sausage and the diced yellow onion and cook, breaking up the meat, until the sausage is browned and onion is transluscent.
Step 2:
Add the garlic and ginger to the pot and cook, stirring occassionally, until fragrant and most of the liquid from the sausage evaporates.
Step 3:
Add the full bag of coleslaw mix, salt, pepper and soy sauce to the pot. Heat, stirring occassionally, until the coleslaw is wilted. Remove the pot from the heat. If you are making a bigger batch, You may need to add one bag of coleslaw mix at a time and allow to wilt before adding another bag to avoid overflowing the pot.
Step 4:
Place a colander in the sink and strain the mixture for 5-10 minutes. At this point, I normally transfer the mixture to a sealed container and place in the fridge over night to chill and allow the sausage fats to solidify. This helps to keep the egg rolls from leaking while assembling and frying.
Step 5:
When you are ready to assemble the egg rolls, place a wrapper on a plate or the countertop in front of you with one corner pointed towards you like a diamond. Place a a heaping spoonful of the mix in the center of the wrapper in a thick horizontal shape. take the corner closest to you and fold it upwards, coming just below the opposite corner. Grab the two side corners and fold towarrds the middle. Make sure this step of folding is tight to avoid liquid from leaking out of the sides while frying. Dip one finger in the cornstarch slurry and wet the full edges of top corner. Roll the filled wrapper away from you, onto the wet corner. Set aside until ready to fry. Repeat with remaining wrappers and filling.
Do not allow egg rolls to sit for too long before frying to avoid the wrapper becoming too damp. I usually will roll 5-8 egg rolls, place them in the oil and continue wrapping in between flipping them. This way there is a constant cycle of rolling and frying to avoid egg rolls sitting for too long.
Step 6:
Place a skillet over medium-hihg heat on teh stovetop. Add enough oil to be 2-3 inches deep and preheat. I usually take one egg roll wrapper, tear it into pieces and I know the oil is ready when the wrapper pieces fry rapidly when placed in oil.
Fry the eggrolls in the oil making sure to rotate or flip with tongs to ensure an even cook. Eggrolls are done when wrapper has a golden-brown color all the way around. Remove eggrolls to a cooling rack over a cookie sheet or plate lined with paper towels to allow excess grease to drain.
Feel free to switch it up and make these egg rolls with your favorite Asian seasonings, sauces or meat (I've always thought ground chicken, turkey or game meat might be a fun alternative) and leave a comment letting me know how it turns out! Please give me a follow and/or check out some of the other recipes posted.
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