Vegetable Egg Rolls

I've wanted to make egg rolls from scratch for a long time but never had the courage to try them until I saw this recipe.  It looked rather straightforward and it was! I can't believe how easy it was. The only thing that took some concentration was rolling them tight and keeping an eye on them while frying so they wouldn't burn.

These deliciously crispy egg rolls are filled with cabbage, carrots, shiitake mushrooms and garlic. But I also think green onions, snow peas, bean sprouts and glass noodles would be good in these. They're given a bit of flavor using soy sauce, sugar and sesame oil. The recipe I followed called for chinese rice wine and since I do not plan on ever having that ingredient on-hand, I decided to add a splash of rice wine vinegar for the acidity and a bit more sugar for the sweetness. I hoped that would cover the flavor profile of the wine and I think it turned out really nice.

We ate these with fried rice and my 20 month old LOVED them! She looked so cute while eating them that I couldn't resist taking a picture. She wanted them so badly that she had a tough time while I snapped a few pics on my iphone pre dinner (yes I had to do that on the floor by my window because the pics in the kitchen had no light and made them look like brown blobs). Luckily she was rewarded for her patience (see below)!

Just a note about the wrappers. I could only find "spring roll wrappers" in my local grocery store. But I don't think there's much difference between spring roll and egg roll wrappers. At least as I can tell. I found these and they worked great.

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Vegetable Egg Rolls
Prep Time: 15 minutes Cook Time: 40 minutes Servings: 15 rolls
source: Detours in Life

Note: once you get the wrappers out of the package, they can dry out very quickly, so place them under a damp towel to stay moist. 

3 cloves garlic, minced
12oz bag of coleslaw mix (about 3/4 of a 16oz bag)
3 large carrots, shredded
1 tsp fresh ginger, grated
8oz of shiitake mushrooms, sliced thinly
1 Tb olive oil
1 Tb soy sauce
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp sesame oil
1/4 tsp rice wine vinegar
1/2 tsp salt
freshly ground pepper to taste

To seal egg rolls:
1 Tb cornstarch
1/4 cup water

• In large frying pan or wok over medium high heat, heat oil and saute cabbage, carrots, garlic, ginger and mushrooms 
• Add soy sauce, sugar, sesame oil, rice wine vinegar, salt and pepper and continue to saute until vegetables and cooked through and cabbage has wilted
• Remove vegetables from heat and lay them out on a baking sheet to cool to room temperature
• Once vegetables are cooled, you need to squeeze out all the  moisture. I did this by literally squeezing with my clean hands. You could also do this in a large tea towel and ring out the water. 
• Heat 1-2" of oil in high-sided pan to 350 - 375 F. 
• Put a large heaping Tb of the vegetable mixture in one corner of a wrapper. Roll that corner up until the middle, folding the sides in, and finish rolling to the other corner. Seal the wrapper with the cornstarch and water mixture on the tip of your finger. 
• Fry rolls in oil for about a minute or so each side, or until they're a nice golden brown. Keep an eye on them because they can burn quickly!