Baked Egg Rolls

I know that when food is properly fried the amount of added calories from the oil is negligible (10%). I also know that deep frying probably doesn’t occur ‘properly’ in the house o’ Branny.

And I just feel better about foods in general when they are baked rather than fried. And I truly believe that these egg rolls are just as satisfyingly crunchy and flavorful when baked as they are when they are fried.

I was inspired to whip these up because of the recent purchase by the Omnivore of a deep fryer (ironic, eh?). He had one before we got married and some how it disappeared during a move of ours (::whistles innocently::). He asked that I pick up some premade egg rolls for him to whip up in his spiffy new deep fryer and I obliged. He was not happy with the results and it had nothing to do with the frying. Like most things, sometimes homemade is better. These egg rolls weren’t difficult to make, they didn’t have much hands on time, in fact, the most difficult part was me searching the internet to find the right recipe.

Most had meat in the filling. Do you really taste the meat amongst all that filling? To me, it seemed like a great opportunity to go vegetarian. The Omnivore, in his effort to avoid seafood, always seeks out vegetarian egg rolls at Asian restaurants anyway. Some recipes called for precooking the vegetables, some didn’t. Some called for mushrooms, which I would have loved, but my husband would not. Some recipes called for a ton of seasoning added to the filling, others called for none. My head was spinning after it all so I winged it.

You’ll find when you read the recipe that I roasted the veggies prior to stuffing the egg rolls. I love the flavor of roasting and thought that this method would remove a lot of moisture from the vegetable filling – a good thing. I seasoned the filling and used a combination of flour and water to make a paste to seal the egg roll itself. Unwrapping wasn’t an issue I faced with baking but it may be one if you choose to fry these babies. I am happy to say that ones my husband fried stayed together in his deep fryer!

The result was a very crispy egg roll. Once I allowed it to cool enough (I bolt my food down way too quickly sometimes!), I could tell the flavors of the filling were really quite perfect. I am so glad that I made a ton of these so that we have some in the freezer waiting for a craving (right next to that box of store bought egg rolls that my husband will probably never finish).

I’d like to give an additional shout out to Jessica for her donation of chopsticks straight from China!

Crispy Baked Eggrolls

Ingredients

1 medium head of cabbage

• 2 carrots
• 1 onion
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger powder
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• egg roll wrappers (check your grocer’s produce section)
• 2 tablespoons flour + water to form a paste (about 2-3 tablespoons)

Instructions

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Clean cabbage and shred or dice very finely.

Place cabbage in a 9×13″ pan and roast while you prepare other veggies, at least 10 minutes.

Clean carrots and grate. Peel onion and grate.

Remove cabbage from onion and toss with tongs. Place grated carrots and onion on top and return to oven to continue roasting, 5 additional minutes.

Remove all vegetables from oven and season with soy sauce, garlic powder, and ginger powder.

Let cool, 10-15 minutes.

Place a couple of paper towels over vegetable filling and press down to absorb any extra moisture.

Lay eggroll wrappers out one at a time on a flat surface with one corner pointing you.

Add about 1/3 cup filling to the middle of the wrapper.

Drape corner nearest to you over the filling (see photos above).

Fold each side in from the left and the right.

Dip your finger into flour paste and lightly coat remaining unfolded triangle before pulling it up and over the rest of the egg roll to seal.

Repeat until filling is gone. You may freeze any remaining wrappers.

When ready to bake, preheat oven to 425 degrees. (I refrigerated my egg rolls for 4 hours before baking with no problems).

Lightly coat a baking pan with cooking spray.

Place egg rolls on baking sheet and bake 12 minutes, turning once halfway through baking time.

Turn on broiler and broil egg rolls for 1-2 minutes per side or until browned and bubbly. Let cool slightly before serving.

Preparation time: 20 minute(s)

Cooking time: 45 minute(s)