Monday, March 11, 2013

Egg Rollin'

Vietnamese Shrimp Egg Rolls

 I can’t tell you how often we crave these in my house, it is so easy to make if you have all of the ingredients around . . . most of the ingredients are dry so you can keep them handy in your pantry J 

There have been many occasions when I don’t have this or that so any variation of these will work just fine, be creative, be brave . . . they will taste great if you season them right! 

Remember, these are CUC recipes, these will not taste like traditional Vietnamese or Chinese egg rolls you may be expecting, but I promise you’ll never settle for one of those again after you have one of these! ;)
*Let me apologize now for my incorrect use of measurement . . . I’m a CUC.  In my kitchen, there are dashes, splashes, a little bit of this and a lot of that.  I’ve tried to guesstimate the equivalent portions as best as I can.   Cooking is so much more forgiving than baking!  It’s ok if you don’t have exact measurements, most of the time, the measurements are for marinades, and you really can’t do much damage that way! 

CUC ON!
This recipe will make about 24-30 egg rolls, takes less than an hour to prepare and cook.
BUY:
  • 1 lb Shrimp – probably the best place to buy shrimp is at the Asian market, it is always so much less expensive- anywhere between $3.99 - $5.99 a lb, depending on the size.   This is what I use out of convenience and because they will be mashed up anyway. The size really doesn’t matter.   I usually go for the medium sized, already peeled ones (you have to devein yourself).  HEB has the med large ones already deveined and halved, so peeling is super easy – so this will be your best bet!  Use a large knife to chop up the raw shrimp into a paste.
  • 1 yellow onion - medium sized, diced into tiny pieces
  • Garlic (1 heaping tbsp) – use the already minced in a jar version (I always keep a large jar of this in my fridge, makes things that much simpler)
  • ½ cup chopped Mushrooms – I’ve used all kinds, from portabellas to Chinese dried fungus (the black ones); my favorite is the black fungus.  Whichever you use, dice into small pieces.
  • 2 bundles of Glass Noodles (bean thread) – one of my pantry essentials, so easy to use! Soak the noodles in hot water til soft (5 mins), then chop into small sections to be added to the mixture.  
  • Sesame or olive oil (1 tsp)
  • Nuoc Mam (fish sauce) – 2 tsp

Any of these brands will work
  • Maggi (special soy sauce) – 2 tsp 
  • Ground Black pepper, onion powder, and garlic powder
  • 1 pack Rice Paper – I use the small ones, (6 inch diameter)
  • warm water to dip rice paper in

 CUC:
Get yourself a helper like mine :)  He is awesome at rollin!!!  back to work, no smiling!
  • Mix all of the ingredients into a large bowl. 
  • One of my tricks is to set 2-3 plates out for rolling the egg rolls.  By the time I am finished rolling the first one, the next paper will be ready for rolling.  You should start with 2, not 3, leave that to the pros ;)
  • Dip and rotate the rice paper quickly in the hot water bowl.  DO NOT let it sit (will become gummy and un-usable)


  • *When deep frying rice paper, you have to be very careful, there is water in the rolls that you just made, drop slowly and watch out for popping.
  • Shrimp cooks very quickly, kepp turning the rolls in the oil and when you notice the mixture turning orangey, it is done cooking.  Rice Paper egg rolls will not turn the golden brown that you are used to seeing on egg rolls, they tend to be very light in color when they are cooked.
So my mom finally decided to share one of her egg roll cookin secrets with me after 20 yrs!!!  She adds a little bit of brown sugar to the warm water to give the egg rolls some color and the brown sugar is not overpowering and only adds a tiny bit of sweetness to the already delicious flavor!
NOM:
I usually have these yummy egg rolls with rice vermicelli, lettuce, mints, cilantro and cucumber and really tasty Nuoc Mam sauce (this is not the same as the store bought fish sauce in the bottle, this is a special Lam family recipe).  I will post soon!!!  Enjoy!

Other variations:
If you are making a ton of these, add 1/2 lb of ground pork to the recipe!  I have also used lump crab meat with my shrimp mixture.   One time I added cilantro, green onions and jalapenos to the mixture and I must say, it was pretty fantabulous!  You really can't go wrong as long as your have shrimp, glass noodles and onions!
If you are not a fan of the rice paper egg rolls, you can always use the traditional egg roll wrapper, it is rice flour based and will fry up much easier, but you will have to cook them a bit longer.   You will need to use an actual egg to seal the egg roll wrapper versus jsut warm water.  
They will be equally delicious!!


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