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Shrimp Egg Rolls

The Fried One.

But the baked ones were good, too.


Recently, in an effort to have some New York style Chinese food on this coast, I tracked down a bottle of duck sauce at the Asian market. None of this dipping-egg-rolls-in-sweet-and-sour-sauce thing that West Coasters tend to do. However, I failed to find any good NY-authentic egg rolls to go with the sauce, so I decided to make some of my own.

I pretty much followed this recipe, except that I baked mine. Except for the one that I fried. And ok, the fried one was way more delicious than the others. But if you want to bake them instead, you can do that, and they're still good.

I'm not too vegetarian to admit that I really like the little salty red specks of pork that are usually in egg rolls. For the 2-ish tablespoons that I'd probably put into one batch of egg rolls, I didn't bother figuring out how to get pork like that. But if you're making a big batch, or if you really like pork, maybe add some.


Filling for 19 egg rolls.


After some trial and error, this was the amount of filling that worked best.

This recipe made exactly the right amount of filling for 1 package of egg roll wrappers (20-ish wrappers). And to be clear, the exact right amount means that it filled 19 out of the 20, so I could put banana and chocolate in the 20th.


The Recipe:
20 egg roll wrappers
1 head napa cabbage, shredded
1 carrot, shredded
1 stalk celery, shredded
1/4 onion, shredded
1/4 lb shrimp, cooked and chopped
1 egg, scrambled
2 tb soy sauce
1 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp pepper
2 tb cornstarch
  • Mix all ingredients except cornstarch.
  • Sprinkle cornstarch over surface, then mix into the filling. Let sit for 10 minutes.
  • Place an egg roll wrapper diagonally, with a corner facing you. Place a small amount of filling in the center. Fold the corner closest to you over the top, then fold in the horizontal corners, then roll away from you. Repeat for each roll.
  • Place finished rolls on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Spray the tops liberally with cooking spray.
  • Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes on one side, then flip and bake another 10 minutes.

The Verdict:
Overall grade: B+
Overall reason: The fried ones get an A+ for taste but a C- for health and ease. The baked ones average around a B+ on both counts.
Time to prepare: 80 minutes
Husband quote: ::nodding approvingly:: "Very good."






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