new and improved egg rolls

i've been making eggrolls for years. as tasty as we've always thought they were, they were never quite "right". i finally found out from the owner of the local asian food market, what was wrong. i've always bought the eggroll wrappers you generally find in the local grocery store and they're not like the ones you might find in a chinese restaurant. that and a few ingredient changes really made all the difference in the world. another secret is the oil you fry them in. since learning to render lard and tallow, we've found that eggrolls taste the best fried in animal fat in the deep fryer. once you've tasted one of these, you'll never go back to peanut or corn oil or anything resembling crisco.



1 lb ground beef or pork raw (may substitute or add shrimp if desired)
2-4 cups shredded cabbage (coleslaw mix works well)
1 large (yellow or white) onion diced
1 to 2 cloves garlic minced
1 teaspoon sugar
1 Tablespoon black pepper
ground red pepper to taste
2 Tablespoons fish sauce (soy sauce may be substituted)
3 eggs
2.5 to 4 oz mung bean threads
50 to 60 spring roll wrappers

1. soften bean threads in hot water. drain. with kitchen scissors, cut threads into 1-3 inch lengths.

2. mix threads and all other ingredients (except wrappers) in a large bowl. i use my hands and knead the mixture as if making a meatloaf.

3. place 1 to 2 Tablespoons of mixture into each wrapper and roll.
(learn how to roll an eggroll here. because these have raw meat in them, you'll want to roll these smaller than my previous recipe--no larger around than a quarter. if this concerns you, you may cook the meat ahead, but it really does taste better if prepared raw and cooked only once.)

4. fry in deep fryer at approximately 365^o for 10 minutes or until golden brown.

5. drain and serve with dipping sauce and rice.
(our favorite dipping sauce is equal parts soy sauce and white vinegar with a few sprinkles of toasted sesame seeds thrown in.)


mung bean threads, also known as vermicelli are usually found at the local asian markets with the rice noodles. these don't carry alot of their own flavor but they absorb flavors well and add a unique texture to eggrolls that cabbage alone just doesn't have.






spring roll wrappers (left), also called eggroll wrappers. these are made with wheat flour and should not be confused with spring roll wrappers (right) which are sometimes called rice paper which are made with rice flour. the wrappers you want are square and soft (like filo or pie crust); whereas, rice paper is generally round and stiff (more like plastic) and must be moistened before using and are generally eaten without frying. i use a particular brand (TYJ) which is made with coconut oil and is very stretchy before it's cooked. these make an excellent eggroll and to date, we've not found anything better.



fish sauce is a sauce used in asian cooking (i use it in kimchi too) which basically adds a salty flavor. it comes in many varieties, shapes, sizes, etc. if you can't find it or if you don't like it, soy sauce and/or salt may be substituted. i generally use the 3 crabs brand.

deep fried jalepeño hamburger balls

i love food and i just love it when i get inspired. the other day, i was trying to think of something to spice up the doldrums of having the same 8 or 9 recipes over and over again. i love my fryer, so i thought about hamburgers and the fryer. i looked up deep fried hamburgers on the internet and surprise...(or maybe not), i was NOT the first person who thought of this. :D

so i gave it whirl and it was a hit. superbowl was yesterday and i needed an idea for a "man-food" for such an event and the only thing i had in the fridge was meat (no pizza rolls, or frozen fried treats that they love so much - LOL). i decided to try the hamburger thing again but this time, jazz it up a bit, make'em single serving size, and put a toothpick in'em. they were a hit. everyone in the house loved'em.

here's the trick. there isn't one. i think you could put anything you like in these things and they would turn out wonderful. it just really depends on your tastes. for mine, i used

2 lbs of ground beef
a splash of worcestershire sauce
a splash of kombucha (i'm sure vinegar would work fine)
about 4 oz of shredded cheeses (swiss and jack)
salt and pepper (liberal)
a handful of pickled jalepeños minced (maybe 2-3 T)
a handful of white onions minced
1 cup of white flour
1 cup of fresh ground whole wheat flour
a bowl of water

with your hands gently mix the ingredients. i've found that you don't want to squash (knead) the hamburger or you lose some of the finished texture of a good burger. also i left the onions out of one batch. i preferred them this way, but i didn't have any leftovers of the onion variety either. take the burger and roll it into meat-balls about 1.25 - 2 inch balls.

mix the flours (this mixture makes a great texture) in a bowl. i tend to start with a 1/4 cup each so that i don't have as much waste or as many flour chunks to throw away. roll each meatball in the flour coating well. then take the floured meatball and quickly roll it in the bowl of water. don't try to wash the meatball, we're just trying to get the coating wet. then roll it again in the bowl of flour.

you can do this up to three times with good results. with just one layer of flour, you'll get a tasty treat, but you'll find that the breading comes off in spots and causes the meat to blacken where the flour is missing. you can also use an egg wash instead of water, but i tried it this way and i think the egg makes the texture weird (kinda like crunchy noodles). we like just the plain flour and water the best.

throw the meatballs in the pre-heated deep fryer (about 355-360 degrees) and cook for 4-6 minutes.

pull out of the grease, drain and poke in some toothpicks. voilà.

note: they're not as greasy as the picture would portray. the only reason the paper towel is so greasy is because i pulled them out of the grease one at a time very quickly. i didn't give them a chance to drip in the fryer. if you used the baskets, you could raise the baskets and allow them to drip before tossing them on the plate. these were not very greasy at all. enjoy.