Beef Egg Rolls

Most Helpful Positive Review

You all will think I'm crazy, but I cook a lot of Asian foods, including crispy won tons and lumpia (usually with ground pork), and I've never precooked the meat and vegetables before filling the skins. I didn't this time either. I just put all the ingredients in a bowl and shmooshed them together, then filled the egg roll skins with the raw ingredients. This worked perfectly, and saved a lot of bother. The deep frying process cooked the meat to a safe internal temperature; and to be doubly safe, I drained the cooked rolls in the oven on a rack set over a baking sheet at 200 degrees until the meal was ready. I used fresh garlic and ginger, and added about 1/2 tsp of 5 spice powder. These came out fine, but frankly, I prefer the taste of ground pork. When I make them again, that's what I'll use.

Wow! I followed the recipe exactly, except (1) I used two 16-oz bags of cole slaw to save a little work, (2) I added a can of bean sprouts, (3) I used spring roll wrappers because they were much cheaper and sounded fun, and (4) instead of deep-frying, I sprayed with canola on all sides, laid the rolls out on a cookie sheet, and baked at 400F for 25 minutes, turning them over after 15 minutes. (They still turned golden brown and needed blotting with paper towels, but I skipped the 2 qts of boiling oil part.) They turned out really well, which was not a surprise ... but a little TOO meaty for my taste. Next time I'll reduce the meat or even leave it out altogether. The spring roll wrappers came with about 60 in a package for $1.22, dry on the shelf. Dipping them in hot water and rolling was MUCH easier than I expected from the description (btw, many thanks to the previous reviewer's "goofy" face analogy!) The biggest surprise? I made 12 full-size rolls, and have only used maybe 1/5 of my filling. I'll definitely be able to fill all 60 wrappers if I have that many. My ingredients, not counting seasonings, cost about $8, so these rolls cost less than a dime each. That’s buying cole slaw mix and using 90% lean ground beef (which I still drained after browning)! If I'd cut up the cabbage, the cost would have plummeted to perhaps a nickel apiece. Just like the restaurant version, I like these best with hot mustard, dipped in soy sauce. The recipe's definitely a winner!

Outstanding! I made very few changes: I browned the ground beef WITH the onion and garlic, drained it, then added the other ingredients in step 1. I omitted the sherry in step 1, and halved it in step 2, but when I tasted it I wished I hadn't because it tasted like it was missing something. Like other reviewers, I, too, added shredded carrots and celery. Next time I'll remember to add diced scallions also. I also drained the cabbage/beef mixture and LET IT COOL TO ROOM TEMP before attempting to wrap. Another thing: I could NOT find egg roll wrappers, so I used whole wheat tortilla wraps and they were great! But here's a tip on wrapping...it's kind of quirky so bear with me: Imagine your wrapper is a bald guy's face/head. Put your mixture where his mouth would be. Then, fold his "ears" in. The sides should be perfectly parallel. Begin rolling the wrap starting with the chin. BE SURE THAT THE OUTER EDGES STAY PARALLEL THE ENTIRE TIME! IF THEY BEGIN TO FORM A V, STRAIGHTEN THEM OUT AS YOU ROLL! Continue to wrap tightly. Once wrapped, dab a little water on the both wrap surfaces and roll wrap up in a towel for 3-5 minutes to "set." I used a dish towel that was lying around. Sorry for the goofy analogy, but I didn't know how else to describe it. Hope this helps! Finally, I started out deep frying these in a deep wok, but that didn't work out too well so then I did the rest of them in a deep frying pan with a more shallow amount of oil and they came out beautifully. Have fun!