Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Egg rolls that aren't so bad for you


I've always been kind of grossed out by the frying process when it happens in my home. The first time I made egg rolls, I fried them in vegetable oil on my stove top in a college apartment, burned half the wonton wrappers, and had to live with the odor of burnt oil for what may have been weeks. Plus the oil splattered all over the stove, which was not fun to clean up, and probably got a few dirty looks from my roommates. Oops. To my disappointment, I really like both making and eating egg rolls, so I searched far and wide (google) for a solution.
I found it! Instead of frying the egg rolls, I bake them! The first attempt involved brushing the egg rolls with vegetable oil and then baking them. The result was OK, but not great. They were not very crispy and tended to fall apart. Plus, still covered in oil and probably not that great for you. My search continued (google). Finally I came across a recipe that involves baking the egg rolls, but instead of brushing them with oil, you brush them with an egg wash. They do not turn out as crispy, nor do they give you the satiety produced by a crispy greasy mouth full of fat. But again, going for a little health here. They do, however, maintain a solid wrapper for the tasty innards of your egg roll.

You can pick from a variety of items for egg roll stuffing. My recipe usually involves ground turkey, shredded cabbage, grated carrots, and some kind of peanut sauce. I cook the ground turkey first with some chopped onions and pressed garlic, salt, pepper, and cumin to taste.

The cabbage and carrots are easily sliced and diced using the appropriate food processor blades. Mix all ingredients together in a big bowl, add pre-made peanut sauce (or, if you have your own recipe for peanut sauce, please let me know).

Egg roll wonton wrappers are usually pretty readily available in the produce section of the grocery store. I am not even going to try to explain how to wrap these things, there is a really good visual aid on the back of the wrapper packaging.

Arrange the egg rolls on a lightly greased baking sheet. Whisk one egg in a small bowl, brush liberally over the tops of the egg rolls. Use another egg if necessary. It is ok if some of the egg mix collects under the eggrolls, it adds a little scrambled egg taste that is pretty familiar in stirfry or fried rice. aka, yum.

I baked these at 350 for about 15 minutes. The finished egg rolls have a shiny appearance and are good to eat.

I have to confess that these things do not keep as well in the fridge as fried egg rolls do, so try to eat them all in one sitting or have a party or something.


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