This recipe is more of a "method" than actual quantities (I "eyeball" the ingredients). Add ingredients to your taste. You can use cooked shrimp, chicken, or turkey for the filling (or combination).

Ground pork or beef
Onion, finely chopped
Celery, finely chopped
Carrot, shredded
Fresh bean sprouts
Soya sauce or tamari
Ground ginger
Garlic powder
Sesame oil
Butter

In a skillet, brown the meat and remove from pan. To the same skillet, add some butter and a little sesame oil (for flavour a little goes a long way). Add the onion, celery, and carrot. Sauté until onions are translucent but not browned.

Return browned meat to the skillet. Sprinkle with soya sauce or tamari (to taste), ground ginger (about ¼ tsp), and garlic powder (about ½ tsp). Stir until everything is well combined (scrape up any browned bits) and let cool.

In a large pot over medium-high heat, add bean sprouts with a little water (very little, just enough to start a steam) and cover. This will release the water thatÂs in the bean sprouts. When bean sprouts are somewhat pliable but still have a slight crunch, transfer to a strainer and let sit for about 15 minutes. Add to your meat mixture and mix well.

You donÂt want your mixture to be too wet or it will make your eggrolls soggy. If you donÂt release some of the water from the bean sprouts prior

to cooking, they will release water while deep frying and cause your eggrolls to have "mushy spots" and be soggy when you reheat them in the oven after theyÂve been frozen. If the bean sprouts are too hard, they will pierce through the wrapper. It is important to cook the bean sprouts separately from the meat mixture so that the water from the bean sprouts doesnÂt "extract" the flavourings that you put into the meat/vegetable mixture.

For rolling, put some filling mixture on one side of the wrapper. Brush edges of wrapper with egg/water or flour/water mixture. Fold it over. Fold ends over a little and press to seal. Make sure the middle fold is well closed/sealed.

Deep fry a couple at a time. Serve with plum sauce.

When I make these to freeze, I donÂt deep fry them too golden brown because I put them in the oven frozen to reheat. This way, they donÂt burn before theyÂre heated through enough to eat. In other words, they finish cooking in the oven and they donÂt get soggy.

Yum, these look good! Thank you.

Do you think I could "melt" a little tahini in the pan instead of the sesame oil? (I have tahini, don't have sesame oil, but can certainly get some if I need to. I would like to find uses for the tahini...).

Deanna

You should be using plum sauce for Moo Goo Gai Pan. For that, you make crêpes and fill them with cooked chicken, bean sprouts (or water chestnuts), and mushrooms, with a bit of velouté sauce as a binder. You can also include freshly grated ginger and minced garlic in the binder, as well as a bit of your tahini and some soy sauce.

I also make egg rolls and spring rolls but not for use with plum sauce.

Lars

dgkritch,
I have a good egg roll recipe from a Chinese cooking class I took many years ago. Our teacher was wonderful and we had a great time and learned a lot. She gave us three recipes for sauces...Fruit Sauce, Plum Sauce and Mustard Sauce. I think it's kind of like wines...no rules, just have what you like.

EGG ROLLS
Ingredients:
10 oz chicken meat (*I usually use more)
1 T soy sauce
1/2 tsp salt
1 T wine (*I use pale dry sherry)
1 tsp chopped ginger root (or 1/2 t ground ginger)
1 large shredded onion
1 1/2 cups shredded bamboo shoots
1 1/2 cups shredded celery
1 cup shredded mushrooms
1 1/2 T oyster sauce
1 tsp salt
2 T cornstarch and water (makes everything stick together)
1 T flour and 1 T water ("glue" to seal the rolls)
5 cups vegetable oil

Procedure:
1. Shred the chicken meat and marinate with soy sauce, salt, wine, ginger root and cornstarch for at least 20 minutes.

2. Heat 5 T oil in a frying pan, stir fry chicken until it turns white. Drain and set aside. Use the remaining oil to stir fry onion, bamboo shoots, celery and mushrooms. Add oyster sauce and salt. Add water if needed (I usually use less oil and I do add water to sort of steam the vegetables instead of frying them.) Cook until the vegetables become wilted but are still crisp. Add cornstarch paste. Stir until thickened. This is the filling.

3. Place 3 T filling in the egg roll wrapper an inch from the edge which is toward you. Fold the edge, then the right side and then the left side toward the center. Roll into a tight roll. Stick outer edge of skin to wrapper with flour paste "glue".

4. Heat the oil to 370 degrees. Deep fry the egg rolls until golden. Drain on paper towels.

For the vegetables you may substitute:
cabbage
chinese cabbage (not bok choy)
carrots
broccoli
bean sprouts

This may be served over rice (omit cornstarch paste and add 1 cup chicken broth and 1 T cornstarch to make sauce.)

FRUIT SAUCE
1 c. apricot preserves
1 c. applesauce
1/2 c apple cider vinegar
1/2 c brown sugar
2 cloves garlic
1/4 tsp red pepper powder (cayenne)
2 slices ginger root

Mix all ingredients in a sauce pan and cook over medium heat. Stir until mixture boils. Reduce heat an dsimmer without lid for 15 minutes. Pick out giner root and garlic cloves and discard.

PLUM SAUCE
1/4 c water
1/2 c plum jam
2 T brown sugar
2 T vinegar
Mix all ingredients in a small saucepan. Brint to a boil and simmer for 2 minutes.

MUSTARD SAUCE
2 T mustard powder
3 T cold water
1/8 tsp salt
Mix all ingredients together and serve.

I also have recipes for Stir-Fry Beef with Barbecue Sauce, Egg Roll Skins, Mar Far (Chinese cookies), Stir-Fried Cabbage with Brown Peppercorns, Cold Noodle Salad with Sesame Paste Sauce, Stir Fried Chicken Cheng-Tu style, Peking Hot and Sour Soup, Double Cooked Pork and Stir Fried Chicken with Mushrooms (Moo Goo Gai Pan) if anyone's interested.

Pam

Like Pam says, no rules. Just put what you like. If you want to use tahini, go ahead. That's why I say that it's more of a method than actual ingredients. Some people like more cabbage, some prefer bean sprouts.

The way I posted above is what I came up with after trial and error... i.e. preventing soggy eggrolls!

Tahini has a really different flavor--I think you'll want the oil.

Deanna,

Also, as a vehicle for the plum sauce, may I suggest zucchini sticks? One of my favorite, long gone cafes used to serve zucchini sticks with plum sauce for dipping and I won't eat them any other way. I make the things frequently as it's a painless way to get my son to eat zucchini :-).

Trust me on this...it's not the taste that you're expecting but it's a wonderful one.

Nina

Baked Spring Rolls

Recipe courtesy Rachael Ray

1 tablespoon vegetable oil or olive oil
1/2 red bell pepper, chopped fine
2 stalks celery from the heart, chopped fine
6 water chestnuts, chopped fine
1/2 small onion, chopped fine
1/4 cup fresh bean sprouts, a handful, chopped
2 (6-ounce) cans lump crab meat, drained, flaked - or -
12 oz. Cooked chicken
2 tablespoons dark soy, such as Tamari
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme leaves, eyeball it
4 (13 by 17-inch) sheets defrosted phyllo dough
3 tablespoons melted butter

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Add oil to a preheated skillet over medium to medium high heat. Saute pepper, celery, water chestnuts, onion 2 to 3 minutes. Veggies should still have a little crunch. Transfer to a bowl.
Add bean spouts, crab, soy and thyme. Combine well with a spoon.
Paint half of a sheet of phyllo dough with melted butter and fold sheet in half. Pile a few spoonfuls of filling 2 inches from the bottom of sheet and leaving 2 inches at either side of sheet. Fold bottom flap up and side edges in, then roll up and over until you reach the top of the sheet. Your pastry will look like a spring roll. Touch the edges and sides of your roll with melted butter and place roll seam side down on a pastry sheet.

Bake rolls 15 minutes or until lightly golden all over in the center of the oven.
Yield: 4 servings
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Difficulty: Easy

Once again, thank you!
This forum RULES!!

Looks like I've got lots of 'testing' to do....oh darn.

I mean...........WAHOO!!!!!!!!!!!

LOL
Deanna

I was lucky enough to be a recipient of Katie's Plum sauce in a swap. I used the following recipe which we loved. I think I removed the tails of the shrimp and sealed them completely, if I remember correctly. It's been awhile. Anyway I thought the plum sauce went well with these.

Tracey

Wonton Wrapped Shrimp

Recipe courtesy Emeril Lagasse, 2003
1 tablespoon minced garlic
3 cups plus 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 teaspoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 tablespoon hoisin sauce
12 jumbo shrimp, peeled and deveined, tails intact
12 square wonton wrappers
1 egg, beaten
12 chives
Cilantro, for garnish
Cilantro Lime Sauce, recipe follows

Combine garlic, 1 tablespoon oil, soy sauce, red pepper flakes, and hoisin sauce in a medium bowl. Toss shrimp in mixture. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour.

Place wrappers on work surface and cover with a damp kitchen towel. Working with 1 wrapper at a time, brush edges of wrapper with a beaten egg. Place a shrimp diagonally across the center and fold wrapper around shrimp. Place the chives in a bowl of hot water for 1 minute. Drain and tie 1 chive around each wonton-wrapped shrimp. Trim off excess chive. Cover with a damp kitchen towel and set aside. Repeat with remaining wrappers.

Heat the remaining 3 cups oil in a large wok until 375 degrees F.

Working in batches, add wrapped shrimp and fry until golden, 1 to 2 minutes. Using a slotted spoon remove from the oil and drain on paper towels. Garnish with cilantro and serve hot with Cilantro Lime Sauce.

Cilantro Lime Dipping Sauce:
4 tablespoons fish sauce
4 tablespoons rice vinegar
4 tablespoons fresh lime juice
2 teaspoons mirin
2 tablespoons Sriracha sauce
4 tablespoons finely chopped cilantro leaves

Combine fish sauce, vinegar, lime juice, mirin, and Sriracha sauce. Just before serving stir in cilantro. Divide sauce among 4 small bowls for dipping and serve with the Wonton Wrapped Shrimp.