what is usually in an egg roll

Egg rolls. They’re the quintessential Chinese takeout food. This easy egg roll recipe is a copycat of the basic version you’ll find in takeout places and Chinese buffets, with cabbage and roast pork in the filling.

It’s been a very long time since I was regularly making them in my parents’ takeout restaurant, when we’d crank out hundreds of egg rolls at a time. With this recipe, however, we’ve recorded the ingredients and method we used, so we can make them anytime at home!

This recipe was originally published on November 10, 2014. We have since updated it with new photos, metric measurements, clearer instructions, additional details, nutrition information, and more. The recipe remains the same. Enjoy!

Fillings. As far as the difference in fillings, egg rolls are typically filled with cooked cabbage, some other vegetables, and pork, while spring rolls typically contain only cooked vegetables.
what is usually in an egg roll

What Are Egg Rolls?

Egg rolls are fried, savory rolls, generally filled with cabbage, chopped Chinese roast pork, and sometimes shrimp.

what is usually in an egg roll

The wheat flour-based wrappers form small bubbles when fried, giving them their signature look.

what is usually in an egg roll

what is usually in an egg roll

what is usually in an egg roll

Try our Vietnamese fried spring rolls, which use rice paper wrappers instead of wheat flour based egg roll wrappers or spring roll wrappers.

It is an American creation that evolved from Chinese spring rolls (check out our Shanghai Style Spring Roll or Cantonese Spring Roll recipes to see the difference), sometime in the early 20th Century.

Contrary to the name, the filling does not actually contain egg, and there may or may not be eggs in the wrapper! Like other fried foods, they’re often served with duck sauce, a sweet condiment popular in Chinese-American takeout restaurants.

what is usually in an egg roll

I first attempted to make these beside my father, who was a Chinese chef working at the Holiday Inn restaurant in upstate New York. He later became a business owner with his own Chinese restaurant in New Jersey.

Back then, chefs and kitchen hands were judged by how many pounds of egg roll wrappers they could go through in one hour. If you were any good, you could tear through 25-30 pounds of wrappers per hour, and all the egg rolls would look like perfect little clones of each other.

I wasn’t particularly good at it (25 pounds an hour was a far off dream), but I could make them well enough. It’s a relatively easy process, and you’ll get the hang of it quickly.

While my father is no longer here to give us his exact recipe, I’ve developed this one from memory. It’s very close to what we used to make at the restaurant, both in flavor and execution!

what is usually in an egg roll

what is usually in an egg roll

You could use the traditional ingredients in this recipe, or get creative with just about any fresh vegetables and meat.

Just make a good-sized batch. They freeze well after frying, and reheat nicely for after school or party snacks. You can even cut the wrappers into smaller squares, and make minis for a delightful appetizer. Need I say more?

Egg Rolls in the Air fryer

We’ve had many questions over the years about whether you can cook egg rolls in an air fryer.

We think that egg rolls are definitely best when deep-fried. The air fryer is a great tool for reheating!

That said, you CAN cook them in an air-fryer if desired. They will have a drier appearance and won’t be as crispy, but if you would really rather not deep-fry, this is an option.

Brush the egg rolls thoroughly with a neutral oil, and place in the air fryer basket.

what is usually in an egg roll

what is usually in an egg roll

Air fry at 350°F/175°C for 6 minutes. Flip the egg rolls, and cook for an additional 6 minutes.

what is usually in an egg roll

You can serve them after they’ve cooled a bit, either by themselves, or with a dipping sauce: perhaps a little duck sauce, Chinese hot mustard, sweet and sour sauce, or hot sauce.

what is usually in an egg roll

Make Takeout-Style Egg Rolls

FAQ

What do eggrolls contain?

An egg roll is a fried, savory roll filled with shredded cabbage, ground or roast pork or shrimp and other ingredients inside a wonton wrapper or thick, wheat flour wrapper. Egg rolls are thought to have been invented in New York City’s Chinatown restaurants in the 1930s.

Which is healthier spring roll or egg roll?

Generally, spring rolls are healthier. In Vietnam and Thailand, spring rolls are packed with raw vegetables and fresh herbs. The rolls are also made with a thinner wrapper than egg rolls and often served fresh, rather than fried.

What is the crust of an egg roll made of?

The dough is made of egg and flour and can be made with a variety of fillings such as meat and seafood, as well as vegetarian versions. The size can also vary—Chinese and Taiwanese people like their rolls quite small, but if you order an egg roll in a Chinese restaurant in the U.S., they are often much larger.

Do egg rolls contain onions?

Classic egg rolls are fried, savory rolls wrapped in a wheat flour wrapper. They are filled with cabbage, carrots, onions, and sometimes chopped roasted pork. The fried skin of an egg roll has little crackly bubbles that are crisp and fun to eat. The name is a misnomer since there are no eggs in egg rolls!

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