[Sca-cooks] egg roll question Probably OOP

[Phlip]

Ene bichizh ogsen baina shuu...

> Also sprach Isabella di Giovanni:
> >I have a confession. I have never, EVER made Chinese egg rolls. I
> >have another confession. I am supposed to be making them for our
> >Christmas Eve party, tomorrow night.   HHHEEELLLPPP!!!
> >
> >
> In the painfully easy department, there's a variant that's either
> Shanghainese or Taiwanese, I forget which, offhand, which involves
> ground beef mixed with veg and seasonings, which is rolled into
> sausage shapes, steamed, cooled, then wrapped in the wrapper sheets
> and fried. Maybe Phlip has the recipe on hand; I know she had it at
> one time, and I'm a bit typing-impaired at the moment, so if I can
> get it to you in some other way it would be preferable...

I don't happen to have that one to hand, but the following is from the Joyce
Chen Cookbook, copyright 1962.

1/2 lb good hamburger
1 tsp Sherry
1/2 Tbs corn starch
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 Tbs brown sugar
1 Tbs brown gravy syrup
2 Tbs cooking oil (for cooking filling)
3 1/2 tsp salt
Few slices ginger root
1/4 lb celery, shredded
1/4 lb onion, shredded
1 1/2 lb cabbage, shredded
2 Tbs flour
1/2 tsp MSG (I don't use it- Phlip)
1 lb raw been sprouts
18 pcs egg roll skins (about 1 lb)
1 egg- beated w/ 2 Tbs cold water (seals the edges) 1-2 qt cooking oil (for
deep frying)

Filling

Mix hamburger w/ sherry, corn starch, pepper, sugar, and brown gravy in a
large bowl.

Place ( 2 Tbs) oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add salt and
ginger, then the celery and onion, and cook about 3 minutes. Add mixed
hamburger to skillet, stirring constantly, and seperate the hamburger into
fine pieces. When beef is cooked, place mixture in a colander and drain off
excess liquid into a pan. Spead meat mixture out flat and let cool. Discard
ginger slices.

Return drained liquid to same sauce pan over medium high heat and cook
cabbage until transparent (adding a bit at a time, or you'll over flow the
pan). Stir constantly. Again drain off liquid through colander by pressing.
Mix drained cabbage with flour and MSG and set aside to cool. (Both the
cabbage and the meat mix may now be kept in the fridge until it's convenient
to make and fry egg rolls. The filling should never be used while warm.)

When time to make and fry:

Mix cabbage, beef, and bean sprouts together and crush bean sprouts lightly
by hand. Place about 1/3 c or a good scoop of mixture in an egg roll skin,
wrap (I'll explain in a minute), deep fry (hot oil, about 350-375 degrees
until golden brown. place browned egg rolls on end in a collander to drain
oil- serve hot.

Egg roll skin will not puff if the oil is not hot.

If for later serving, place on a rack to cool. Never pile up warm egg rolls-
the brown and crisp wrapping will turn soft.

She has several notes, explaining that this is not traditional Chinese-
these are American style- I'll address variations in a bit.

For shaping the egg roll, put the wrapper on a board in front of you, in
diamond configuration. Place the filling in a neat, even pile just below the
midline of the diamond.
Bring up the bottom point, then bring in the side points, as if you were
folding and envelope. Roll up from the bottom, firmly but not tightly, as if
you were making cabbage rolls. Use the egg/water mixture to seal the final
point- rest on a plate with the point side down until you're ready to fry.

Phlip's Notes- This is a decent basic egg roll recipe. The inportant part of
it is the proportions of meat to vegetables, not necessarily the specific
meat(s) of vegetables used. I've used ground pork (not that nasty, fatty
stuff they sell as sausage in the plastic tubes, but real ground pig meat),
lamb, veal, venison, poultry, or any mixture. For the veggies, I've used
several different kinds of cabbage, and all sorts of grated veggies,
depending on what I had to hand- carrots, beets, water chestnuts,
occasionally whole corn (but not a lot because it tends to change the
texture) daikon, or whatever else I had to hand, that needed used and could
be made into small, grated pieces.

Instead of the gravy, sherry, and MSG, I use a 50/50 mix of soy sauce and
rice wine vinegar- remember, this recipe is pandering to perceived American
tastes, in the late 50s/early 60s. Ginger is ALWAYS part of it, but rather
than slicing and removing the slices later, I shred it and leave it.

It looks rather difficult, but it isn't, really- it's one of those recipes
you can do instages, amongst doing other things.

Basicly-

1. Make the meat mixture.
2. Make the veggie mixture.
3. Cool.
4. Mix the ingredients, adding the sprouts if you're using them (I seldom do
unless I can get some fresh- the canned are nasty- I just add more cabbage
or other veggies).
5. Make the egg rolls (Can be done while frying up the ones you've made, 2-3
at a time).
6. Fry
7. Drain.
8. Serve.

Hope this helps...


Phlip

 If it walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, it is probably not a
cat.

Never a horse that cain't be rode,
And never a rider who cain't be throwed....