Baked Pork Egg Rolls

Who doesn’t love an egg roll?  Whenever I order Chinese takeout, I absolutely have to have an egg roll with spicy mustard.

Since I tend to not order takeout all that frequently but do make my own Chinese dishes, I have been trying to make my own egg rolls for quite some time.

The only thing is, deep frying freaks me out.  It’s one thing to go to a restaurant and feign ignorance about all the grease and oil and deep frying.  But it’s quite another to actually deep fry something myself.  That amount of oil gives me the heebie jeebies.  Plus the smell – bleh – I do not want that smell in my house.

Therefore, my revised endeavor was to make a delicious baked egg roll.  Not easy. Nope, nope, not easy at all.

I’ve learned a lot along the way and made quite a few mistakes.

For example, I made baked egg rolls with beef instead of pork.  Don’t go there, just no.  Don’t do it.

I’ve also filled them so full that they burst during cooking.

I’ve made bland, underspiced egg rolls.

I’ve made soggy egg rolls and greasy egg rolls, and you name it, I’ve probably done it!

But this time, I can finally declare success!  Pork egg rolls, perfectly spiced.  Not at all soggy.  Small, and beautifully golden brown without deep frying.  Yes!  I can finally make egg rolls!

Recipe Notes

*If you don’t have rice vinegar, substitute with white wine vinegar or white vinegar

*If you have fresh ginger on hand, use 1 tablespoon grated, fresh ginger in place of the ground ginger

Baked Pork Egg Rolls

Recipe from Martha Stewart

¼ cup reduced sodium soy sauce

2 tbsp rice vinegar (see note)

1 tbsp brown sugar

½ tbsp ground ginger

2 tbsp canola oil

1 nappa cabbage, shredded; about 4 cups shredded

2 medium carrots, grated; about 1 cup grated

4 garlic cloves, minced; about ½ tbsp minced

Salt & pepper

1 lb ground pork

5-6 green onions, thinly sliced

Egg roll wrappers, about 21

1 large egg, beaten

In a small bowl, whisk together the soy sauce, vinegar, brown sugar, and ground ginger.  Set aside.

Meanwhile, heat the canola oil over medium-high heat.  Add the cabbage and carrots.  Season lightly with salt and pepper and cook for 3-5 minutes or until slightly tender.

Add the garlic, ground pork, and soy sauce mixture.  Cook until the pork is cooked through (no longer pink) and the liquid had cooked down. 

Stir in the green onions and move the mixture to a baking sheet to cool for at least 15 minutes.  Once cool, press the mixture with paper towels to sop up any excess moisture.

Place 2-3 tablespoons of filling mixture slightly off center in the egg roll wrapper (click here to see a beautiful photo tutorial).  Tuck the nearest corner around the filling.  Then bring the two short corners in toward the center. 

Brush the remaining corner with the beaten egg.  Then roll the egg roll tightly, sealing the wrapper with the egg washed corner.  Repeat with remaining wrappers and filling.

At this point, the egg rolls can be frozen.  Place the egg rolls in a single layer in a freezer bag and freeze until ready to use.

Or, the egg rolls can be baked immediately.  To bake, brush the egg rolls with the remaining beaten egg or spray with nonstick spray (note that the egg wash with give the egg rolls a nicer golden color and too much spray can make a greasy egg roll).

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F and bake for 15 minutes (up to 20 if frozen) or until golden brown.  Serve with sweet & sour sauce or hot mustard.

Makes approximately 21 egg rolls