Egg Rolls!

I was in the mood for some egg rolls - and figured it was about time I work on whipping up something tasty and easy to fry.  These are filled with a nice pork and veggie filling along with some rice noodles, to avoid having too much moisture inside the egg rolls.  I had some delicious egg rolls (pre-GF days) in Amiens, France at a market stall, and they had the fine rice noodles inside with the spicy pork filling.  I went back each day we were in that city to grab a lunch of an egg roll or two at the stall.  These are my version of that yummy meal.  We love them dipped in a spicy sweet chili sauce.  We had some friends over for a fun Chinese New Year meal, and had a great time eating these yummy egg rolls and homemade fried rice (but with finely diced ham instead of chicken).  I have also posted a tasty Vietnamese-style fried spring roll recipe, which is basically like an egg roll but made with a rice wrapper.  They are a little more finicky when frying than these egg rolls, but absolutely delicious.  Enjoy!  

Fresh egg roll filled with pork, veggies, and rice noodles.

Egg rolls ready to eat!

Gluten-Free Egg Rolls!

Makes 8-16ish, depending on size

Pork & Veggie Filling:

In a large frying pan over medium heat cook: 

1 lb ground pork
3 carrots, grated
1/4 - 1/2 tsp salt (omit or add just a dash if you're using a GF soy sauce that isn't Bragg's Soy Seasoning)
1/4 - 1/2 tsp pepper

Once the pork is about halfway cooked, add and continue cooking until pork is fully cooked: 

1 bell pepper, finely diced

When the pork is fully cooked, add and cook 1-2 minutes: 

2 Tbsp fresh ginger, grated

6-7 garlic cloves, minced OR 1 heaping Tbsp minced cloves (they sell jars in the vegetable areas at most large supermarkets)

2 Tbsp freeze dried red onion, optional

Add and cook 1-2 minutes: 

4 Tbsp Bragg's Liquid Soy Seasoning OR Gluten-Free Soy Sauce

1-2 tsp agave

Pork and vegetable filling, ready to cool a bit.

Remove from the heat and let cool while you prepare the noodles and dough. 

Rice Noodles:

Fill a large pot halfway full with water and 1 Tbsp salt.  Bring to a full, rolling boil.  Add to the pot:

Half or whole package of very thin rice noodles (I like the Maifun rice sticks for this recipe - the amount you cook depends on if you'd like any leftover noodles to eat with cooked pork filling if you get tired of making and wrapping egg rolls)  

Turn off the heat and leave noodles to rest in the pot for 10 minutes.  They are then ready to use!  You can just use them straight from the pot.  Drain and remove a portion of noodles into a small bowl for convenience while wrapping your egg rolls.  

Rice noodles - cooked, drained, and ready to fill egg rolls alongside the pork and vegetable filling! 

*Once these are just about done, I like to turn on the oil to heat.  I like to use a medium-sized saucepan over medium heat filled with 2" of avocado oil.  Use an oil that's good for frying.  You don't want the oil too hot, so I find the once it's nice and hot and ready to fry the egg rolls, the heat may need to be turned down just a bit.   You can drop a tiny piece of dough into the oil and see if it sinks and then rises up and starts bubbling nicely to determine if your oil is hot enough.  You can always use a deep-fryer.  I'd recommend setting it at about 360-370F.*  

Egg Roll Dough: 

***(I find that the amount of dough here works for about 1/2 of the prepared pork filling.  I usually reach a burnout from rolling and frying egg rolls by that point, and save the filling and noodles to make egg rolls another day or just serve the noodles with pork topping as it's own meal.  If you're wanting to make extra egg rolls - enough to use up all the pork filling above - please double this dough recipe)***

In a large bowl, whisk together: 

1 cup brown rice flour

scant 1/2 cup sorghum flour (or more brown rice flour)

scant 1/2 cup tapioca starch

1/4 cup potato starch

1 tsp xanthan gum

1/2 tsp baking powder (optional - this makes puffier egg rolls, for a thinner wrapper leave out)

1/2 tsp salt

Add in wet ingredients (there are two options) and mix in with the back of a spoon: 

3/4 cup water

1 egg

2 tsp oil

OR

1/2 cup water

2 eggs

2 tsp oil

Take a small portion of dough and roll it out thinly between two pieces of plastic wrap into a square-like shape.  On the dough square/circle, add a small portion of rice noodles and a small spoonful of pork filling - try to place the filling in a slightly rectangular orientation similar to what you want your final egg roll shape to be.  Use the plastic wrap to help you fold in and pinch the dough to seal it in an egg roll shape.  I like to fold the dough over one of the short rectangle sides of filling, then bring over a wide side over the top.  I then fold in the other short side and use the plastic wrap to help tuck the filling in a little to bring over the other wide side.  I use the plastic wrap to help reshape the egg roll before frying.  

I place the filling in as a rectangle.  Fold up the bottom, then side, then top and finally left side, using the plastic wrap to help with the wrapping. 

Set a little bowl to the side with some water in it.  Dip your fingers in the bowl and pick up your egg roll with wet fingers.  Carefully lower the egg roll into the heated oil.  Fry several minutes, turning occasionally, until nicely browned.  The best thing about these egg rolls is that your filling is completely cooked, so you're just needing to crisp up the outer shell.   I usually fry the egg rolls one at a time until I'm getting the hang of things and then sometimes fry them two at a time.   More than that and I worry they will stick together.  

Egg roll frying - I sometimes fry two at once, but make sure they don't stick together!

Place cooked egg rolls on a plate lined with paper towel to drain.  

These are delicious served alongside sweet chili sauce - I have only ever seen gluten-free versions of a sweet chili sauce, but please check the ingredients before purchasing.   My kids love them plain, too.  Enjoy!!! 

Fresh egg rolls.  Yum!

I had a little extra dough one day and filled them with dollops of jam.  They tend to ooze and spatter, but they were a fun thing to make with leftover dough.  

Gluten Free Egg Rolls filled with pork, vegetables and rice noodles by Successfully Gluten Free!