Gung Hay Fat Choy!! Welcome to the Year of the Monkey! I was so lucky to be asked by Cost Plus World Market to create a series of videos and design a fun and festive tablescape for the Lunar New Year. Please take a look at my videos for Potstickers, Long Life Noodles with Chicken and the Mandarin Mule – a gingery and bubbly Lunar New Year cocktail.
Besides Potstickers, Long Life Noodles and delicious cocktails, another great thing to make is Chinese New Year Egg Rolls. Chinese New Year Egg Rolls or Spring Rolls symbolize good fortune because their rectangular shape is similar to that of gold bars. Who doesn’t want to ring in the New Year with some good fortune? This is an easy and fun recipe to make with kids as they can help fill and roll up the egg rolls. I like to get my five spice powder at the gourmet section of World Market.
These Chinese New Year Egg Rolls are made with classic Cantonese Egg Roll skins which are bit thicker and chewier than Spring Rolls skins. If you prefer Spring Rolls, then purchase spring roll skins (available at Asian markets) instead. You’ll need to separate the skins beforehand and then just roll as directed.
We start with a delicious filling made with chicken breast, shitake mushrooms, beansprouts, scallions and seasoned with five spice powder. Feel free to substitute with or add shrimp to this recipe (I just throw in some chopped cooked shrimp right before I get ready to roll)
Start with placing about 1/2 cup of the filling slightly below the center of the eggroll wrapper.
Now roll up the skin around the filling tightly but not too tight for the skin to tear or break. This is a key step in rolling up eggrolls or else they can fall apart
Next, you want to fold the flaps in like an envelope securely and neatly on both sides. You’ll want to use a pastry brush now to moisten the edges on the remaining top flap with the egg wash just as you would an envelope but please resist the urge to lick it:)
Our beauties are ready for frying. Make sure you have everything ready before you start frying as it goes quickly. Have a cookie sheet lined with paper towel and your tongs ready to to. You can find out if the oil is hot enough by placing a small piece of eggroll wrapper in the oil. If it floats to the top immediately, it’s ready! Don’t place too many eggrolls in the oil at once or the temperature will reduce and you’ll have soggy eggrolls on your hands.
