might more appropriately be called Chinese-American egg rolls because they're a complete bastardization

of original Chinese spring rolls, I'm sure. But anyway, these are great for snacks, appetizers,

or even Easter because they're called egg rolls. Get it? That'll really throw your guests

for a loop. They'll be like, 'What the f-- is Chinese food doing here with the ham?'

Okay. The first thing we're going to do is make our filling. So, these have a precooked

filling that you will cook it, and then cool it before we fill the egg rolls. I'm going

to add a little bit of oil to my pan and start sauteing. I've got some super, very, very

finely minced celery and onion here. So, while that's going, I've got also here about a half

a pound of ground pork. You can use ground turkey, or you can leave out the meat completely

and add some more vegetables if you want to also. I'm going to add to this -- This bowl,

I've got some brown sugar, some corn starch, and some minced garlic and ginger.

So, when you add corn starch to ground meat like this, it kind of helps lock in the moisture.

So the meat doesn't dry out, and it helps it sort of bind together. So, it's serving

two purposes. I'm just going to mix this in with the ground meat here. Also going to add

about a tablespoon of soy sauce to this and some pepper. I'm going to use white pepper,

but you can use black pepper or red pepper if you want it a little bit spicier, and a

little bit of salt also. I'm going to add a little bit of salt to these vegetables too,

to draw some of that moisture out, to sweat them a little bit. They'll soften up a little

quicker.

And then, just get our meat mixed up and add that to the skillet also. Then, we just want

to stir it around, break the meat up as much as you can, and eventually, it'll sort of

come into really, really tiny little crumbles. So, keep an eye on that and have a brew while

you're waiting, because nothing goes with egg rolls like beer. Right? You could also

have water, but hey. Look. Tecate Light. I'm saving calories on my beer so that I can have

more fried egg rolls later. Beautiful.

Okay. Just a few minutes later, it looks like this. I'm going to turn the heat off. You

just want to make sure that any big chunks of meat are sort of broken up. You want, really,

a very fine filling for these egg rolls. Then, transfer it to a plate. You can use a baking

sheet or something. We just want to spread it out so that it cools off faster. If there's

any oil left in the bottom of your pan, you can try to keep that behind. We'll use that

to cook the cabbage also. Okay. We'll set that aside.

Then, back in the same skillet. I'm going to add a tiny bit more oil, and we'll add

the cabbage. So, this is shredded Napa cabbage. I just sliced it really, really finely. You

can use regular old green cabbage too. That'll give you more sort of texture inside your

egg roll, and that's more common in restaurants. I don't know. I had Napa cabbage. So, I'm

using Napa cabbage. Either one is fine. You can also add bean sprouts and things like

that.

So, we're just going to saute this until the cabbage is wilted. It shouldn't take very

long at all. Okay. So, cabbage getting nice and wilted. We don't want to get it too soft

because you want to keep a little bit of texture, and it'll still continue to cook, even after

you've turned the heat off. So, this looks pretty good. The leafy parts are nice and

soft, but the stemmy parts are still a little crispy. So, I'm going to turn that off, and

I'm going to add some water chestnuts. These is just like -- These is just like-- A can

of water chestnuts that I drained and minced finely.

And then, I'm also going to add some mushrooms. These are dried Shiitake mushrooms that I've

just had soaking in water for about an hour. Wood ear mushrooms are, like those black ones

that are really firm, are also commonly used in egg rolls. These are a little bit easier

to find, usually. So, squeeze the water out. Then, I'm just going to mince up these mushrooms

too. And then, finally to this, I'm going to add a tablespoon of regular, all purpose

flour and mix that in. That's just going to help the filling stay kind of firm. As it

cools, it'll thicken it up. So, it'll sort of make a mass that you can form into little

egg rolls.

I'm going to spread this out on top of the meat mix. Then, we'll just put this whole

thing in the fridge and let it get super chilled. You can make the filling a day ahead of time,

even two days ahead of time, which is muy excelente when you've had a lot of brews.

Okay. Time to roll these mofos. This is just about half the mixture. It's cooled off totally.

These are my egg roll wrappers. You can find these in the frozen section, usually, of pretty

much any major grocery store. You just want to thaw them out, and then keep the rest of

them covered while you're rolling them so they don't dry out. It dries out pretty quickly.

So, there's two here. God damn it. They stick together. Stick together like a hand in glove.

These egg roll wrappers are the best of friends. Okay. It's going on my album, guys. Stay tuned.

Stay iTuned. Just kidding. Okay.

So, you want to get a big spoonful, maybe like a quarter cup or so of your mixture.

Put it pretty much right in the center, maybe a little bit below the center, but pretty

much just right on, bros. And then, roll the bottom up. What I like to do is kind of take

it over, and then pull it back. Did you see how I did that? Did you see how I did that?

So that it gets a nice little tight log. Fold this side over. Fold this side over. Then,

in this little bowl, I've got just a mixture of plain flour and water, about equal parts,

maybe a little bit more water. It's not important really. Just use your finger to go. I like

to sort of get these sides here, like the envelope sides, and then the little point

also. This is going to kind of glue it together. Then, just roll it over like that. Just like

that. Make sure that you have enough in that little tippy tip.

There we go. So then, we want to set this aside, seam side down on a plate. You can

make these and let them sit for maybe, like, ten or 15 minutes tops. But eventually, and

pretty quickly, the filling, the liquid in the filling and the oil in the filling is

going to kind of soak through the wrapper. So, you can't really make them really ahead

of time. But like I said, you can make the filling ahead of time. Then, just roll up

a few. Then, as you're frying the first batch, you or someone else, ideally you have a little

helper, a little kitchen elf, will be rolling the next batch. So, it's kind of a fun thing

to do if you have friends that like to cook, to have them over, and let's all make egg

rolls together. You can make some different fillings. You can put shrimp in them, or you

could make vegetarian ones. You could put carrots in them. You could put whatever in

them. Good.

So, I'm going to roll up about six of these while I start heating up my oil. I've got

some peanut oil in the skillet, just three-quarters of an inch or so, to about 365 degrees Fahrenheit.

Catch you on the flip side. Wait. There we go. Cowabunga. Once your oil is around 365,

you want to carefully fry your egg rolls in small batches for one to two minutes on each

side, until golden brown. Now, we're talking. Be careful not to fry too many at once because

the temperature will drop, and you'll end up with greasy egg rolls. You'll also run

the risk of over boiling your oil. Drain your egg rolls. Then, I like to put them in a bowl

that's lined with a paper towel, sort of upright, so that the excess oil can drip off. They

actually stay pretty warm this way.

Egg rolls are done. What time is it? It's egg roll time. What time is it? It's time

for egg rolls. Those don't rhyme. So, I've got here some oriental hot mustard powder.

You can find this in spice areas. Daisy, quit being such a bitch. You just mix up the powder

with water to the desired consistency. I like mine a little bit thin so that it's good for

dipping. Then, I've also got some sweet chili sauce. So, if you like this egg roll recipe,

also check out my chimichangas for another delicious fried treat with a Mexican twist.

I also did fresh spring rolls recipe a couple years ago that aren't fried, and they're way

healthier and almost as delicious.

With that said, let's give this a taste. I like this hot mustard. It's going to clear

out my allergies. It's a fine crunchy egg roll. There you go. I hope you like this egg

roll recipe. I hope you give it a shot.

If you want printable recipes, they're always available at Hilahcooking.com. That's also

the best place to reach me if you have an important question about a recipe, because

I will be sure to see those questions. Visit me on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram. I'm all

over the place y'all. I own the Internet. I'm inside the Internet. Bye.

Baby, do you want some egg roll? You like crunchies? Good catch, girl. Daisy's really

good at catching stuff. You're so smart and clever. I love you. That's probably enough

fried things.