We really enjoy these, they certainly aren't authentic but they satisfy my egg roll urge without any frying and are very, very tasty!

Spring Rolls - Rachel Ray Via Woodie

1 Tbl 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 ( can easily be omitted)
2 Tbl dark soy, such as Tamari
1/2 Tsp dried thyme leaves, eyeball it
4 (13 by 17-inch) sheets defrosted
-phyllo dough
3 Tbl 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. Repeat with the remaining sheets of phyllo dough. Bake in the center of the oven for 15 to 20 minutes, until lightly golden all over.

Not simple, but this recipe is TDF and you can make a ton and freeze them and reheat in the oven.

Shrimp & Vegetable Egg Rolls

2 Tbls vegetable oil
8 cups finely shredded green cabbage
2 cups coarsely grated carrots
2 & 1/2 Tbls soy sauce
3 cloves of garlic, finely minced
1 Tbls ginger, finely minced
6 green onions (or scallions), cut into very thin slices
3/4 lb salad shrimp (can substitute chopped, cooked, chicken)
1/2 cup coarsely chopped fresh cilantro
1/4 cup finely slivered fresh basil
Salt - to taste, if needed
12 egg roll wrappers (10 oz)
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 & 1/2 cups vegetable oil

1. In a large, heavy pot, heat the 2 tablespoons of oil. Add the cabbage and carrots; cook over medium-high heat for 3 to 4 minutes, until cabbage is wilted and bright green. Stir in soy sauce.
2. Add the garlic and ginger; cook for 1 minute, stirring. Remove from heat and stir in green onions, shrimp, cilantro, basil and (if desired) salt.
3. When working with egg roll wrappers, cover them with a damp kitchen towel so they don�t dry out. Stuff wrappers one at a time: Place one tip facing you like a diamond shape on a flat work surface. Place 1/3 a cup of filling 1 inch from the bottom point and across the wrapper to within 1 inch of each side. Fold bottom tip up over filling and roll away from you halfway up. Brush egg over exposed edges with a pastry brush. Fold in 1 inch side tips and finish rolling TIGHTLY (very important - or egg rolls will absorb more oil and taste �greasy�). Place on a plate seam-side down. Repeat procedure with the rest of the wrappers. Keep finished egg rolls covered with a damp towel.
4. Heat 1 & 1/2 cups of oil in a 10 inch skillet until it begins to bubble a bit on top. (To test for temperature, drop a cube of bread into oil; it should brown within one minute). [I use my deep fryer - @ 370 degrees - drop in 3 or 4 egg rolls - cook 1 minute and turn and cook for another minute, or until golden brown.]
5. Add 3 or 4 egg rolls at a time to the oil and fry for 2 to 21/2 minutes on each side, or until golden brown. Drain on paper towel. Serve immediately.
I like mine with ketchup and hot Chinese mustard. Hubby likes his with sweet & sour sauce.
Makes 12 egg rolls

Sweet & Sour Sauce

1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 tablespoon corn starch
1 can (13&1/4 oz) pineapple chunks
1/3 cup vinegar
1 Tbls soy sauce
1 small green pepper, coarsely chopped

Mix brown sugar and cornstarch in skillet. Stir in pineapple (with syrup), vinegar and soy sauce. Heat to boiling, stirring constantly; reduce heat. Cover; simmer, stirring occasionally, for about 5 minutes, or until sauce thickens to your desired thickness. Stir in green pepper. Cover and simmer for about two more minutes.

I make vegetarian egg rolls with....what else? Egg!!
I mix up an egg or 2 depending on the amount I am making, mix in a little soy sauce....fry it firm in a little oil in a non stick pan. Remove.cool a minute or2 Roll up and do a sort of Chiffonade of Egg!
The rest is much like Chase posted, but sub some shopped napa cabbage for some of celery.
For just a few I use about 1/2c up of oil in a wok, fry a few at a time, just to brown and then put into a 375 oven for about 10 to 15 minutes.
Haven 't done that in years....need to do that again!
Linda C

If you are near a Trader Joe's - they have delicious eggrolls in the frozen section with the other Asian products.
They are called TJ's Stir Fry Vegetable Eggrolls. I bake them in my (Breville) toaster oven. Easy & delicious!They come out crispy every time. Allows me to concentrate on preparing the rest of the Wok cooking, which I find hectic.

Ok, first of all, avoid bean sprouts or any veggies that have alot of juice. If your filling has alot of juice in it, you will have a better chance of breaking the egg rolls during frying. When you have a hole on the wrapper, your egg roll will burn in the area or have uneven cooked filling.

When wrapping the egg roll, try your best to wrap them tight. This will also prevent from having air bubble during frying which will result in breaking.

I'm assuming you're using Chinese egg roll wrappers? Then, probably the flash frying technique would work well to minimize greasy egg rolls. I haven't done it that way. Most of the time, I make Vietnamese egg rolls which uses a different type of wrappers.

Yes, you can make a big batch, fry them and freeze them. Reheat them on a cookie sheet in the oven.

What ntt_hou said.
You can use bean sprouts, but however, just a few for the taste.

I would also use mushrooms, especially for veggie egg rolls. Royal mashrooms or Portabella add some chewy texture and great taste.

dcarch

What is flash frying? Isn't that deep frying?
I like egg rolls, spring rolls, etc. Anything with a crispy crust and savory vegetable filling. I get the best spring rolls at a local Chinese place. I thought they had bean sprouts but maybe it is those clear rice noodles inside.

Sorry lpinkmountain. Flash frying is deep frying quickly on high heat, 400F degree or so. Depending on the type of food, it can take anywhere from 15 seconds up to 2 minutes.

Basically, the longer a food is deep fried, the more oil it will absorb. Using this technique will reduce food from absorbing oil. The type of oil needs to be used in this technique would be one that is suitable for high heat (see chart below).

Some food cannot be completely cooked by just using the flash frying technique. The rest of the cooking is either predone prior to flash frying or after flash frying. Here a couple of examples.

1) Fried tofu: I boil or steam the tofu first to cook them thoroughly. Then, I use the flash frying technique to golden brown the tofu.

2) French fries, fried chicken or egg rolls: I batter the food if applied; then, flash frying until lightly golden brown. Right after, I place the fried food on a cookie sheet and finish cooking in the oven.

By the way, egg rolls are best deep fried. Frying with a little oil will result in uneven browing and cooking. You really just need enough oil in the pan to completely cover the egg rolls. That may not be as much as you think. It's best to deep fried a few egg rolls at a time to maintain the same temperature of the oil as much as possible.

What you mentioned earlier about frying with a little oil, I normally call that pan frying.

Here are some info about type of oils:

Oils that are suitable for high-temperature frying (above 230 ðC/446 ðF) because of their high smoke point:

⢠Avocado oil
⢠Corn oil
⢠Mustard oil
⢠Palm oil
⢠Peanut oil (marketed as "groundnut oil" in the UK)
⢠Rice bran oil
⢠Safflower oil
⢠Sesame oil (semi-refined)
⢠Soybean oil
⢠Sunflower oil

Oils suitable for medium-temperature frying (above 190ðC/374ðF) include:

⢠Almond oil
⢠Rapeseed oil (marketed Canola oil or, sometimes, simply "vegetable oil" in the UK)
⢠Ghee, Clarified butter
⢠Cottonseed oil
⢠Grape seed oil
⢠Lard
⢠Diacylglycerol (DAG) oil
⢠Olive oil (Virgin, and refined)
⢠Walnut oil
⢠Mustard oil

Hope that helps.

Natalie

Thanks Natalie! Seems like maybe I should make a bunch and then freeze. I buy the dough already made and it doesn't keep well anyway, so probably best to make a whole batch and reheat in the oven a few at a time. Sadly I don't have a Trader Joes nearby, Wegmans is as fancy as it gets around here. But anyway, I'm so frugal it would probably suit my budget better to make my own. Back during better economic times for me I would have probably bought some good quality pre-made/frozen ones.

I know what you mean about cutting back. When I was forced to cut back, it amazed me on how little I could live with comfortably and still be very happy.

One thing I cut off without hesitation was cable TV. I switched over to the good ole antenna. In Houston, I can tuned in over 40 channels and they're all free! It's like the good old days except that OTA (over the air) digital channels are so clear now. They're even more clear than cable and dish satellite channels because they're not been compressed.

Back to cooking. Home cooked meals are always better for our health anyway. I try to cook my own meals as much as I can. I freeze them alot too; sort of like making my own TV dinners. LOL, my mom couldn't understand why I have an extra freezer when it's just little ole me :o)

I hear ya Natalie! Actually, one person needs a big freezer about as much as a large family, since I almost always have leftovers to freeze when I make a dish. Freezing some for later saves me from eating the dish for four or five nights in a row! Pies and cakes take me weeks!

I've gotten by for most of my life without cable. Sadly, due to who knows what, I can no longer get local stations, even with the conversion gizmo hooked up. I could get local PBS for a while, but now the signal gets scrambled, and I can't afford an upgrade. I get by with a Netflix subscription. I am now about three years behind the times with TV, lol! The only shows I really miss watching are the cooking and home improvement shows that came on Saturdays.

lpink, check on eBay.

You may need an outdoor roof-top rotating amplified TV antenna.

They are not expensive. You may get many stations. You just need to find a way of installing it on your roof.

dcarch

Lpink, Dcarch is right, you need a good antenna. I purchased this roof antenna (link below) recently at a local Fry's Electronic. It was on sale for $65 at the time. Amazon has them too. I am finally able to pay someone to install it on the roof for me. This antenna can be installed in the attic too but my home is only 1 story. The roof will give the extra height.

Before purchasing an antenna, you'd need to find out where is the nearest Antenna Farm to your house. Find out the distance from the Antenna Farm to your house. You can use google maps to determine the distance. This way, when you search for an antenna, you can purchase one that will reach at least that distance length. Also, if you know where the Antenna Farm is, you'd know which direction to point the antenna to.

ie: From my home to the nearest antenna farm is approximately 33 miles due South. The antenna I've purchased will reach up to 45 miles for VHF and 60 miles for UHF channels. It covers for that distance and may pick up more channels beyond the 33 miles (from the antenna farm). When installed, the antenna will point toward South.

The digital signals from using OTA is so much better than cables and dish satellite networks. Those companies compress their digital signals and that's why the picture quality is not as good as of those from the OTA signals.

If you don't have one already, you may want to save up and get an HDTV (High Definition TV). Their prices are very affordable now. You can get a 19" HDTV for less than $150. And, you won't need a converter box because they have a digital tuner already built in. You just need a good antenna.

OTA delivers true High Definition digital signals, if you have an HDTV. The pictures are crispy clear.

LOL... I do sound like a saleslady, don't I.

Here is a link that might be useful: Channel Master Antenna

I dunno, BF might move in with me and he has to have his cable because he is a sports nut, Packers football in particular, which is not the local team. So I'm on hold with the TV issue. On the flip side, he'll help alleviate the leftover problem somewhat.

I know this is OT, but cable TV really burns me up. You pay all that money, and then the shows are so littered with commercials you can't even follow them. I didn't mind commericials when they were the price you paid for watching what was basically free TV. Now, even when you pay an arm and a leg, you get bombarded by more commercials than ever! And you pay for dozens of channels you're not even remotely interested in watching. Therein lies the seed of today's media's eventual demise, IMHO.

Oh yes, I agree with you about all those commercials. It used to be the reason why we got cable; so, we could get commercial-free programs.

Now, the only sensible reason for getting cable is for the sports, as it is in the case of your BF. Other than that, it makes no sense at all to pay so much just to watch TV.

Well, if your BF will be paying for cable, go for the free ride :o)

I recently discovered that you can use puff pastry to make egg rolls and then bake them instead of frying them. The pastry that I bought had to be rolled out, however, as it was too thick and the squares were too small.

BTW, grape seed oil has a smoking point of 420 - 485 degrees and is what I use for deep frying.

Lars

Here is a link that might be useful: Oil smoking points

That's why you have to pay more to get a device to fast forward through the commercials. On our plan with Direct TV, it's five dollars a month for each dvr.

I've never heard that corn oil foams. Usually foaming is caused by the moisture content of whatever you're cooking, and happens with any kind of oil. Did it happen right after you put the egg rolls in?

I think it's common to cook them in a little bit of oil and turn them. As long as the filling's cooked, I think it will work fine.

I pay a fortune for TV, and I only watch network shows. If I can get a signal, record with a TiVo or something and run an output to my kitchen TV, I'm ditching my subscription as soon as my contract runs out.

Well, it foamed to beat the band. Maybe the filling leaked out of one of them, but it was quite the panic until I managed to fish them out. The second batch foamed too. By "foam" I mean so many bubbles you couldn't see what was underneath frying.

Sounds like moisture, L. That old expression about 'mixing like oil and water' sums it up! If you fill the pot just under halfway with oil, usually the uprising will stay in the pot and you won't cause a massive fire :-P

Lpink, did you wrapped the egg rolls tightly? They need to in order to minimize air which could be the cause of so much foam in the oil.

The other possibility is what Jessica and I mentioned, too much moisture veggies in your fillings. Or, it could be a combination of both.

A good trick to minimize bursting bubbles while deep frying is to sprinkle some salt in the frying oil. It will still bubbles but not as much and it won't explode as much, safer for you.

I made egg rolls again last night, and it took quite a while to assemble the filling, which included ground turkey, basil, Thai basil, onion, garlic, ginger (I use paste from a jar), pea sprouts, spinach, bean threads, tofu, sesame oil, jalapeno, mushrooms, carrot, daikon, egg, Ponzu sauce, and cornstarch. I juilienned the carrot and daikon on my mandolin to get tiny threads. The only pre-cooking I did was to reconstitute the bean threads in boiling water for two minutes and then drain them. I have a lot of leftover filling and will be making more tonight. To counteract the moisture in the filling, I sifted a bit of cornstarch, and that seemed to work well. I fried the rolls at 375� in my deep fryer for four minutes, let them rest in the basket above the fryer for four minutes, and then let them cool for four minutes on paper towels. Before I let them cool, I tested the internal temperature, which was 185 degrees, and so I was satisfied that the turkey was cooked! Most recipes I've seen call for the fillings to be cooked ahead of time, I supposed to remove moisture, but I found that cornstarch did a great job of that, and I had no splattering to speak of. I always use grape seed oil for frying, and it adds no flavor. I do not like the flavor of peanut oil.

Does anyone else use raw meat in their egg rolls?

Lars