The Kitchen Wife: Egg Roll in a Bowl Recipe (2024)

FAQs

Are egg rolls healthy? ›

Sure, there are veggies in the filling. But egg rolls are anything but healthy. They're wrapped in dough and deep-fried. The result is an appetizer that packs more than 220 calories and 10 grams of fat in each one.

Featured in a Chinese-American cookbook from 1917, the recipe calls for chicken, ham, sprouts, and mushrooms to be wrapped in a thin egg omelette. So, literally, an egg roll.

Fill by making a line of your favorite filling about 1/2 from top and side edges. Fold in each side over filling. Brush on a small amount of saved egg along remaining side edges and the bottom edge. Roll from the top to the bottom and press lightly so it will seal.

A healthier version of homemade sauce for egg rolls is made with jam, pickled plums, vinegar, and seasonings. Common ingredients include apricot jam, Chinese pickled plum or Japanese umeboshi, rice vinegar, sugar, and pickled plum liquid.

That's why, unlike spring rolls, egg rolls always have cooked fillings, and almost always include meat. Vegetable egg rolls can be equally hearty though, with a cooked combination of savory veggies like cabbage, celery and onion, plus plenty of seasoning.

High in sodium

Because large amounts of sodium are present in many foods, such as egg rolls, it's easy to eat more of this nutrient than you intend to. Consuming too much sodium may increase your risk of developing high blood pressure ( 3 ).

Deep-fried egg rolls, fried rice, and a main dish dripping in oily sauce make this meal an unhealthy choice. The total sodium in this type of meal is more than most people with diabetes should have over 3 days. Beware the MSG (monosodium glutamate), a seasoning that sends the sodium content soaring.

Either way, no one can argue that egg rolls grew out of a Chinese culinary tradition. Their wrappers are usually rather thick and, as mentioned earlier, traditionally were made with wheat flour and egg. Spring roll wrappers on the other hand are much thinner, have no egg and are often made with rice flour.

I know what Americans call an egg roll as served in Chinese restaurants and carry-outs is a spring roll or pancake roll here. In Scotland an egg roll would be a fried egg in a Morton's morning roll. In England it might be a fried egg in a barmcake/bap/bread roll according to location.

The egg roll is a variety of deep-fried appetizer served in American Chinese restaurants. It is a cylindrical, savory roll with shredded cabbage, chopped meat, or other fillings inside a thickly-wrapped wheat flour skin, which is fried in hot oil.

What is best to seal egg rolls? ›

THE WRAPPERS

You will want a package with 18 egg roll wrappers. Many come in a 20 count, so you should be good to go. Cornstarch slurry: to seal the wrappers, you will need 2 teaspoons cornstarch mixed with water. This “glues” the wrappers closed much more effectively than just water or an egg wash.

Rice wraps can be found in most Asian stores or in the Asian aisle of grocery stores. The rice wraps typically comes in square and circle shape; I have always found it easier to wrap spring rolls using the square ones.

Using Egg Wash or Alternatives

To seal the egg roll, you can use either an egg wash (beaten egg with a tablespoon of water) or a cornstarch slurry (equal parts cornstarch and water). Egg wash provides a more traditional seal, while cornstarch slurry is a suitable vegan alternative.

Fillings. As far as the difference in fillings, egg rolls are typically filled with cooked cabbage, some other vegetables, and pork, while spring rolls typically contain only cooked vegetables. But like any generalization for food so beloved worldwide, you're sure to find exceptions if you look hard enough.

Boil the eggs for 8 mins if they are room temp and 9 if out of the fridge. Plunge into cold water for 5 minutes to cool. This will give you a hard-boiled egg that's not grey and nuked. Crack the shells with a spoon and return them to the water for 3 minutes.

Chicken Egg Rolls are filled with seasoned ground chicken, fresh minced garlic and ginger, cabbage and carrots. They are divine! I deep-fried ours like traditional egg rolls, but I am sure you could bake these in the oven and they would be delicious, too.