Turkey Egg Rolls

Yes, I have said it many times; chinese food is totally my weakness.  My favorite. My go-to food when I'm happy, sad, angry, bummed, tired, energized, pretty much any excuse to eat chinese food is a good excuse for me. Of course restaurant-style isn't the healthiest, so figuring out how to make my fave's at home is a big win!

I've already perfected my Cashew Chicken, and my Honey Chicken. Now it's time to get some egg rolls on the table. These really can be a meal all their own; just serve with some veggie fried rice and a little sweet-and-sour sauce and you're good to go.

To help with the calorie factor, I used ground turkey instead of ground pork (although both are pretty healthy). You could also use shredded rotisserie chicken; super tasty! Once your prep is done, cooking is pretty easy and rolling is very much like making a burrito; no problem.

Something else some people are afraid of is the frying. If you drain on a wire rack after cooking, excess oil will drip off and these little guys really aren't so bad for you. I tried baking them and wasn't impressed with the results. When I fried them, I only used enough oil to submerse one side at a time (maybe 1-2 inches deep). That way I had more control over the cooking process and could pull them out easily.

If you really aren't interested in frying, or if you really want to be calorie-savvy, you can eat it right from the skillet, or you can wrap the filling in a lettuce leaf for lettuce wraps. The filling is amazing! I truly could make it a meal all by itself!

Great hands-on meal for kiddos too, and adding the dipping sauce really sells them on it! My daughter couldn't get enough of this one. I played around a bit with re-heating and found it's best to make a large batch and freeze them uncooked.  When you're ready, you can thaw them and drop them in a little oil to  achieve the best results.  Re-heating cooked ones in the microwave made for a very soggy result. No fun. Again, totally worth putting a little oil in a pan.  Only takes a few minutes and the results are amazing! You're gonna love these!

Turkey Egg Rolls
¼ c soy sauce

2 Tbs rice vinegar

1Tbs light-brown sugar

3-5 c vegatable oil

1 napa cabbage (~2 ½ lbs) shredded

2 c shredded carrots (about 4 med)

3 garlic cloves, minced

½ tsp ginger (or 1 Tbs fresh minced ginger)

½ tsp pepper

½ tsp salt

1 lb ground turkey

16 egg roll wrappers

1 egg, beaten

In a bowl, combine soy sauce, vinegar and sugar. Set aside.

Heat 1 Tbs oil in a very large skillet.  Add cabbage, carrots, and garlic. Add ginger, salt and pepper. Cook down, stirring regularly, until vegetables are tender; about 7-10 minutes.

Turn up the heat to high. Push the veggies to the side and add the turkey and soy sauce mix on the other. Brown the meat, slowly mixing it with the veggies. Once the meat is no longer pink and the sauce is reduced, about 5 – 7 minutes, pour the mixture on a plate to cool.

Layout your egg roll wrappers on a flat surface, one at a time in a diamond position. Brush a little egg along the edges of the wrapper.  Place the meat filling in the center. Pull one corner up and over the filling. Then fold the sides over and finish by rolling towards the final corner. There are usually instructions on the wrapper package to help you.

Heat 3-4 cups of oil in a 5-qt pot for frying to a temperature of about 350° F.  Place 4 egg rolls in at a time, browning on each side for about 2 minutes.  Place them on a paper towel or cooling rack. Serve with sweet and sour sauce, hot mustard, or soy sauce.  I also like to serve these with vegetable fried rice and make a dinner out of it.

Side Notes:

These are bakeable. 400° F in the oven, place the rolls on a rimmed pan and brush each roll with oil before baking for about 10 minutes. Admittedly, I was not so impressed with the results.  It’s worth frying them, and it’s super quick and easy and actually still relatively healthy (all that turkey and veggies working their magic).

They are also freezable. After rolling, place them on a tray and place it in the freezer. Leave them for a few hours and then place them in a Ziploc bag until you're ready to cook them. Simply pull them out about 30 minutes before you want to cook. 

*Recipe adapted from Martha Stewart Living recipe, Pork Egg Rolls

Linking up with Hun...What's for Dinner. Come on by to get some other great meal ideas!