Lettuce Wrapped Grilled Pork and Fried Egg Rolls

Coming up with new ideas for dinner every night is not easy.  Variety may be the spice of life, but it can be a lot of work.  I planned out this menu this morning and then kicked myself as the day drew on realizing that I did not have the time I wanted to complete all of the components of this seemingly easy meal. 
But the ingredients were purchased, so away we go.
For the grilled pork:
1.5 lbs thinly sliced pork shoulder
1 shallot, roughly diced
2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
2 stalks lemon grass, finely minced
juice of one lime
2 tbsp brown sugar
3 tbsp fish sauce
2 tbsp sweet soy sauce
1 tbsp rice wine vinegar
1 tbsp canola oil
Combine all ingredients and marinate pork for at least 4-6 hours.  When ready to cook, either skewer the pork or grill as it is.  It will be easier to cook on skewers, but easier to eat without.
Heat grill on high.  Because the pork is so thin, it will not take long to cook and you want to get a good sear on it.  So, get your grill smoking hot and grill pork about 1 minute or so per side.
For the Egg Rolls - this made 35
1.5 lbs ground chicken
3 carrots, peeled and roughly grated
2.5 cups chopped green cabbage
7 dried shiitake mushrooms, soaked and finely diced
1 can bamboo shoot strips, rinsed
2 garlic cloves, finely minced
1 tbsp finely minced ginger
1 tbsp dark soy sauce
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp rice wine
1/2 tbsp hoisin sauce
freshly ground pepper
2 tsp corn starch mixed with 1 tsp water


Heat a small bit of oil in a smoking hot wok.  Add chicken and dark soy and fry until chicken is browned, then add garlic and ginger and fry until fragrant.  Then add carrots, cabbage, mushrooms and bamboo shoots and toss to combine.  Add salt, wine, hoisin and black pepper and fry until the vegetables are softened.  Finish by thickening any sauce accumulated with the corn starch and water mixture.  Remove from wok into a sieve set over a large bowl to strain out any sauce.  The egg rolls will be easier to wrap when the filling is not too wet.


I tried a new wrap I had not used before mainly because I was not at an Asian market where they carry my favorite spring roll wrap.  These were smaller, thicker and more doughy.  I prefer a spring roll wrap to an egg roll wrap.  But these were tasty nonetheless.
To wrap, place a small amount of filling on one corner of the wrap.  Roll over once, then fold in the sides, and brush a little water on the remaining corner and roll over to seal.  
Whenever I take the time to make spring rolls, I make a large batch to freeze.  They do great straight from the freezer to the frying pan.


Heat canola oil in a deep pan to 350.  Fry egg rolls until brown and crispy.
I served the pork and egg rolls with green leaf lettuce for wrapping and fresh basil, fresh cilantro, pickled fennel, salt and sugared radish, and sweet chili sauce for dipping.  

Comments

  1. Those egg rolls look to DIE for! Oddly, I am a fan of egg roll wrappers over spring roll wrappers any day of the week. They have more... doughy and crispy "oomph". :-)

    Lisa H.

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  2. We are 2 and 2! Stella & I like the spring roll wrap, Maggie & Chris liked the doughy egg roll wrap! I said to Chris, that's what they use to fry ice cream and he answered, ahh, that's why I like it!

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  3. Oooh fried ice cream, that sounds delicious too! Gosh, that also makes me think of sopapillas, which I haven't had in ages.

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