Chinese Egg Rolls

The Lunar New Year is on Friday this year! In China, this marks the beginning of the Year of the Horse. Festivities begin on New Year’s Eve with families gathering for dinner and last until the Lantern Festival on February 14th this year. Over the next couple of days, I will be sharing Chinese dumpling recipes, along with these egg rolls, to celebrate.

I have tried a few different egg roll recipes over the years, but this one from Steamy Kitchen is a new favorite. The filling is made from seasoned ground pork, cabbage, carrots, and mushrooms. You can also change the meat and vegetables to suit your taste, just be careful to remove excess moisture from ingredients that contain a good amount of water. It was definitely Evan approved! He seems to like most food in dumpling and wrapped form.

The type of wrapper you buy makes a difference. Mine were a little too thick and created bubbles on the outside when I fried them. The best ones are square, about 8 inches across, and are thin enough to be translucent. They are often found in the frozen section of the Asian Food Market. Make sure to remove as much moisture as possible from the filling. I place a paper towel under the bottom part of the propped baking sheet to catch any excess drippings in case there is too much water. Roll up the filling (no more than a heaping tablespoon!) as tightly as possible without ripping the wrapper to prevent filling from falling out and oil from seeping in.

As with many of the dumpling and wrapped recipes I prepare, I like to double or even triple recipes to make many at once. I freeze the extra in single layers (separated with parchment) on baking sheets after forming, but before cooking. Once frozen, they can be transferred to freezer bags. They can be fried straight from the freezer, just add about 2 minutes to the cooking time.