How Do You Roll? Eggroll ideas

This weekend, my wife used up the rest of the corned beef and pastrami by making Reuben eggrolls. She bakes them to avoid the frying and calories but naturally I prefer a fried eggroll. The filling though was out of this world and the homemade Thousand Island dip was tasty alongside.

What type of eggroll fillings do you enjoy? Do you bake or fry? Any unique tips?

Rooster

I’ve used leftover carnitas to good effect, but I added it to more typical Asian veggie mix.

Two of my favorite unusual uses for egg roll wrappers are my cha gio ones and my cheesesteak ones. The first are just a variation of more traditional vietnamese cha gio with a pork and shrimp mix and the cheesesteak are just darn good deep fried in those wrappers.

@seal, on the cha gio what does your filling contain? any rec on wrapper brands?

cheesesteak variation sounds terrific. I have leftover skirt steak in the frig. Would you recommend using it up for these?

rooster

Great idea for leftovers, thxs!

@Rooster I like to rough chop raw shrimp, mix with ground pork, garlic, ginger, water chestnut, dark soy, fish sauce egg and my secret spice. Sometimes I fill wonton or egg roll skins with it, sometimes I just make patties or balls and fry em up. Serve with Sweet Chili Sauce.

As for the skirt - I do love me some skirt steak. Not really cheesesteak as such as I go traditional and use thin sliced rib eye for that, but what difference does it make? I make my skirt mexican style a lot so I might throw in some avocado in mine, but like you said, leftovers are fine.

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Thanks for the quick reply. I like both variations.

I went through an "egg roll " phase and I even helped a friend establish an “egg roll” themed food truck. (It’s currently for sale if anyone is interested!!)

Here are a few of the MANY egg rolls I’ve made;

Italian = spicy sausage, broccoli rabe’, provolone and mozzarella
reuban (as you stated)
Shrimp parm
Chicken parm
Italian hot dog
Cheese steak
Pork roll egg and cheese
Mexican = taco beef, queso (instead of cheese :wink:

I always fried them.

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Which oil did you fry in?
Any brand of wrapper you recommend?
Your list sounds real good.

I honestly do not know the brand name of the wrappers, I get them at restaurant depot and it’s the only egg roll wrap they have. (Egg roll not spring roll)

I used olive oil, honestly go buy a pack or two and just have fun. 1 tip is to strain excess fluid from the stuffing contents, like the sour kraut for the Reuben I squeezed in cheese cloth.

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Quick run through on eggrolls we’ve made since I started this thread asking for assistance. First, our son is the rollup champion and when he is home I take advantage of his speed and joy to join me in the kitchen. Big tip, get your kids involved!

Pastrami and krauft with holegrain mustard and Russian dressing dip
Meatball parm with Sunday gravy dip
Shrimp salad with lemon
Nutella and bananas
Nutella and raspberries
Crab
Pulled pork with salsa and lime
and yesterday, fresh peaches

I bake 375* to make batches in one oven trip and brush the wrapper skins with grape seed oil in two passes to crisp both sides. When I freeze them I wrap batches tightly and then in container. Defrost fully and then recrisp in oven while making the dip.

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Wait, so you don’t fry them at all? How long at 375 for each side?

I thought I was the rolling champ?
I use very thin individually separated wrappers from the Philippines,
Each sheet of wrapper is separated by a parchment paper and after rolling it, wrap it ini these papers and freeze.
Those wrappers are wonderful from Asian Store called Simex
For a bit more money, buy the individually separated wrappers as they are a pain to separate when lumped together.
I cain send you pictures if interested.
I pan fry them, eat them fresh or sometimes, I spritz some EVOO, inside the countertop Wolf gourmet oven till it is crisp

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7-10 mins depending, some wrappers are thicker.
I use oil, but I brush it on bith sides rather than deep fry. Texture is diff but I like a lighter crunch, like tempora light.

Yes, please send pixs. Thanks for the info, very useful. I have worked with four diff wrappers, two dry rounds on shelf, two in freezer dept and I like all of them The thicker ones work better for a bulky filling.

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I would appreciate a pic too. I have a hard time finding actual egg roll wrappers vs. spring roll wrappers. I prefer the egg roll with the crisper, crackled skin vs. the spring roll which as smooth. I’ve never encountered any individually separated skins which would be good since I found defrosting and refreezing them they don’t hold up as well.

there was a shortlived barbecue joint here in Mass. that made pulled pork egg rolls, which sort of sounded to me like a pretty decent idea.

edit: I see now that you already tried this!

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sorry I did not receive this request in my email. Just found it .
I think the term egg roll was actually invented in the US . I hate those egg rolls served in Chinese restaurants !
we call it LUMPIA ( meaning soft biscuit or cookies? The filipinos adapted this terminology from the Chinese )
So, if we fry the lumpia, it is called Shanghai lumpia or Shanghai spring rolls.
I posted my recipe a while back, use the SIMEX individually spring roll sheets.
It can be served just that way after it is defrosted with the lumpia ingredients ( I use pork, chicken, shrimp, sometimes crab if I am eating them fresh without freezing them, cabbage, carrots, snow peas , onions and tokwa which is a bean curd that is more than firm. In fact, it is called lao tokwa meaning old as in age tokwa. )
I think. you will like this as they are very thin, ver crispy when fried or placed in the oven and also great eaten fresh. Be sure to buy the individually separated wrappers are they are well worth it. I get it from the Asian stores in the freezer section
Another use which I love is to wrap this with very ripe plantan that has been split lengthwise, a but of brown sugar I between the slices or some filipino macapuno ( this is hybrid coconut), then pan fried. It makes a fantastic snack or dessert.

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Newest eggrolls are:
shrimp and leek
mushroom and onion
tofu
applesauce
slaw
ground lamb and lemon zest

still baking them in the oven.

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One of the Tex-Mex chains used to serve a Southwest Egg roll; I’ve done a variation using faux chicken strips, black beans, corn, onion, shredded cheese, and well-drained salsa as the filling - salsa and fresh guacamole for dipping.

And I know, somewhere, I had one with an apple pie filling and a cinnamon sugared crust.

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