Pork Egg Rolls

These pork egg rolls are filled with spiced ground pork, peanut, soy sauce, spring onions, ginger and other ingredients. They are a labour of love, but they can be made in advance, fried and frozen. They can easily be reheated in the oven or air fryer. Make a big batch and enjoy them for months, or serve them all at once as a fun and festive appetiser.

Ingredients:

– 3 lbs of minced pork
– 1/4 to 1/2 cup of soy sauce
– 1 heaping tablespoon of peanut butter
– 1/2 teaspoon of black pepper
– 1/2 teaspoon of garlic powder
– 1/2 teaspoon of onion powder
– 2 bunches of spring onions, sliced thinly (white and green parts separated)
– 1/2 cup of seasoned rice wine vinegar
– 2 tablespoons of finely minced fresh ginger
– 1 packet of spring roll pastry (14 pastries)
– 1 small head of green cabbage, sliced into thin ribbons, then chopped into small, bite-sized pieces

*You will need approximately 4 to 5 cups of shredded cabbage. You can use more or less depending on your preference.
All of the seasonings in this recipe can be adjusted to taste.
You can add more or less meat or cabbage.

Instructions:

In a bowl, combine the soy sauce, peanut butter, black pepper, onion powder and garlic powder. Whisk until smooth, then set aside.
In another bowl, whisk together the rice wine vinegar, green onions and ginger. Set aside.

Add a little oil and your ground pork to a skillet. Cook thoroughly, breaking up the pork into a fine crumble as you do so. When cooked, add the white parts of the spring onions and sauté for 5 minutes. Then add the soy sauce mixture and simmer for 15 minutes on a low heat.
While the soy sauce is simmering in the meat, toss your vinegar mixture with the cabbage and set it aside.

Once the soy sauce has simmered into the meat, remove from the heat and stir in the cabbage. Toss to combine – the heat will wilt the cabbage, but it will still have some crispness to it. If you prefer your cabbage to be very soft, cook it with the meat for a little longer.

Leave the mixture to cool. Then, place a strainer over a bowl, add the mixture to it and allow the excess liquid to drain out. Leave it to sit for about 30 minutes. This will help keep your spring rolls sealed.

When you are ready to roll the egg rolls, set up a workstation. I use a wooden chopping board and have the following items ready: a small bowl of water for sealing the edges; a baking tray with some parchment or wax paper on it; some damp paper towels for cleaning your hands in between; and a small spoon for filling.

To roll it up, turn the egg roll sheet so that you can see the diamond shape, rather than the square. (See the picture in the post.) Add about three heaping tablespoons of filling across the centre of the diamond. You can use less, but I prefer bigger egg rolls. Dip your finger in water and run it around the bottom half of the diamond (below the meat line). Pull that flap up and over the meat line and press it into the wrapper on the other side. Use some water on your finger to seal the edge to the other side of the wrapper.

Next, fold in the two edges to make an envelope, using your finger and water to seal it down, then tuck and roll it upwards. Finally, use your finger and water to seal the flap. Finally, I use my wet fingers to seal any remaining openings. I will link a video in the post.

Place the egg roll on the baking tray and repeat until all the egg rolls have been made. Leave them to rest outside in nature’s freezer, covered with foil, for an hour to harden up a bit. You can then put them in the fridge or freezer.

I fried mine in hot oil using a deep fat fryer. Alternatively, you can fry them in a deep skillet with a few inches of oil; I prefer to use peanut or vegetable oil. Alternatively, you can brush them all with oil and air fry at a high temperature for 10 minutes. Every air fryer is different, so experiment with the time and temperature. I let the egg rolls rest on a wire rack over a baking tray lined with kitchen roll.
You can freeze these and fry them from frozen.

Make sure the filling does not touch the edges of the wrapper. The oil from the meat will prevent it from sealing properly.

ENJOY