Homemade Spring Rolls & Fried Rice—Guest Blog: Ami Rothberg

When I was growing up my family ate a lot of spaghetti, but my mom also had a few recipes that stuck in my mind. Some of them, like “noodle-bump soup” and homemade macaroni & cheese probably stuck somewhere else (say, my ass). But others, like homemade spring rolls and fried rice, are recipes I LOVE, not just because they are so easy, also because they are SO TASTY! I made these the other night for Katie and I, and we’ve been eating them for the past three days. Finally (or maybe sadly) they are gone! They turned out spectacularly but making them tends to be really messy, so be prepared for that!

Spring Roll Ingredients

2 packages Egg Roll wrappers

3 large carrots, shredded

½ head red cabbage, shredded

1 head bok choy, chopped fine (leave out leafy parts)

1 medium yellow onion, chopped

2 large chicken breasts, cut into small chunks

2 Tbsp sesame or canola oil

1 C soy sauce

Oil for frying rolls

Filling:

Add oil to large crock-style pot

Cook chicken until white

Add onions, cook until nearly tender

Stir in rest of vegetables and soy sauce, cover and cook on low until tender

Allow to cool uncovered until room temperature

Egg Rolls:

Place on egg roll wrapper on a clean surface with a corner facing you

Dampen wrapper with water and paper towel

Squeeze juice out of approximately ¼ C of filling and place in middle of wrapper

Fold in bottom corner, followed by side corners and roll into top corner of wrapper

Place into skillet with oil heated to medium-hot

Cook on all sides until golden brown

Allow to cool on newspaper with paper towels layered on top to soak up excess oil

Enjoy with your favorite sauce—I prefer a mix of spicy mustard and soy sauce!

Fried Rice Ingredients

1 tsp oil

2 eggs

4 C white rice

left over sauce from spring roll filling

Scramble one of the eggs in the oil in a deep skillet

Add rice and ¼ C left over sauce with as many leftover vegetables as you desire

Stir in second egg and cook until nice and sticky!

You may want to try:

Lowering the sodium with low-sodium soy sauce

Using a different pan to fry the spring rolls to avoid the gigantic oily mess