I have been going to the Epcot International Food and Wine Festival for a few years (at Walt Disney World Epcot Center) and this was Curtis' first year. I have so much to share with you including this recipe for Kalua Pulled Pork Sliders made in a slow cooker (yeah!) that I'm sharing with another post about my favorites overall at the festival.

We went opening weekend, thanks to Disney for inviting us to attend their opening weekend press event…before we left, Curtis said please make the pulled pork sliders. I had been eyeing the Festival cookbook. It's a hardcover edition this year because it's the 20th annual festival…I can't believe it's been going on for 20 year!

Let's talk about the festival. There are so many marketplaces for you to try, so many great food inspired by different countries. When you get inside Epcot, the first thing you wan to do is grab the festival passport and a gift card. Load the gift card to make it easy to pay and use the passport as a guide, it has all of the marketplaces listed along with all of the food and drink you can enjoy!

It's grillin' Mickey!

The Festival cookbook got an upgrade this year for the 20th anniversary, it's a hardcover edition and there are tons of recipes I want to try. I'm so glad I bought it the last time I attended the festival.

And there's the pulled pork sliders. You can get in the Hawaii marketplace. I also got the poke tuna and Curtis Kona Brewing beer too.

It was such a pretty weekend! Love the clouds.

All of the marketplaces are well-decorated according to themes from the countries or areas they represent.

And a lot of the greenery that the festival organizers use have to do with the produce they use in the dishes too!

We stayed at the Boardwalk Inn which is within walking distance to Epcot Center. I love the decor of the hotel.

After a fun and food-filled day, the walk back to the Boardwalk is so pretty!

Turn down service! I love that they leave taffy on your pillow at night.

Now back to these pulled pork sliders. I'm so glad Curtis suggested I make these at home. They are so wonderful. We even froze half of it in the freezer for a dinner later on…because it made so much!

Curtis actually picked up a bone-in pork shoulder so I removed the bone.

Just add salt and pepper and put it in the slow cooker. We couldn't find banana leaves so that's it. I couldn't believe how easy it was.

Cut the red pepper into thin strips and then dice. That's how you can get a small dice on veggies.

Add the ingredients for the chutney into a pot.

And bring to a boil and cook down.

Add all of the ingredients for the spicy mayo (I love sriracha!) and whisk.

It's a beautiful thing!

Make these and go to the Epcot Food & Wine Festival…you'll thank me later.

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Kalua Pulled Pork Sliders with Pineapple Chutney and Spicy Mayo Recipe

In the cookbook, there's a recipe for the brioche buns they are served with at the Epcot Food & Wine Festival. I opted to use store-bought Hawaiian sweet rolls to make this recipe an easy weeknight meal!

Prep Time 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time 10 hours hours

Ingredients

Kalua Pork

• 1 4-pound boneless pork shoulder (also called boneless pork butt)
• 1 large organic banana leaf cut in half widthwise, optional
• coarse salt freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Pineapple Chutney

• 1 pound diced pineapple I used canned tidbits, partially drained
• 1 large sweet yellow onion diced
• 1/2 small red bell pepper diced small
• 1/2 teaspoon hot red pepper flakes
• 1 cup rice vinegar
• 1/2 cup white vinegar
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 Tablespoon minced garlic about 3 cloves
• 1 Tablespoon finely grated fresh ginger
• coarse salt to taste

Spicy Mayonnaise

• 6 Tablespoons Mayonnaise
• 2 Tablespoons Sriracha Asian hot chili sauce
• 2 teaspoons white vinegar
• coarse salt to taste
• Brioche Rolls or Hawaiian sweet rolls

Instructions

Kalua Pork

• If you bought a bone-in piece of pork, cut out the bone. Cut pork into two pieces and season with salt and pepper and wrap each piece in a banana leaf half. (I omitted this since I couldn't find banana leaves near me.)
• Place pork in a slow cooker. Cover and cook on the lowest setting for 8 to 10 hours, until meat shreds easily with a fork.
• Remove the meat from the slow cooker, reserving drippings. Discard banana leaves, if using. Shred meat, adding drippings as needed to moisten.

Pineapple Chutney

• Combine all of the chutney ingredients in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil.
• Lower heat to medium-low and simmer until pineapple starts falling apart and most of the liquid has evaporated, about 1 1/2 to 2 hours.
• Allow to cool and then refrigerate in a sealed container until ready to serve.

Spicy Mayonnaise

•  Whisk together all of the ingredients for the spicy mayo in a small bowl. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.

To serve

• Cut rolls in half. Place warm pulled pork on bottom of the roll. Place pineapple chutney on top and drizzle spicy mayo over the chutney. Top with second half of the roll and repeat.

Notes

Notes: I made the Kaula Pork a day ahead and refrigerated it along with the drippings and it tasted awesome! I recommend doing this to make your prep and cooking super easy for say a weeknight or many weeknight meals!

from Epcot International Food & Wine Festival: Recipes & Stories Celebrating 20 Years by Pam Brandon and The Disney Chefs

Disclosure: I was hosted by Walt Disney World as a media guest for the opening weekend of the Festival. The opinions I share are always my own and always share with you what I love.

The post Kalua Pulled Pork Sliders from Epcot Food & Wine Festival appeared first on The Little Kitchen.

I love ginger anything, especially this ginger lemonade drink and even ginger candy. Growing up, my Mom cooked a lot with ginger. I love love it! My best friend, Lindsay, loves ginger beer and got me addicted to it. If you have never had it before, just think root beer but instead of being dark, it's lightly colored and it's made with ginger root. To me, the spicier the root beer, the better!

In my recent Zurich trip recap, I shared that we went to the oldest vegetarian restaurant in the world (according to Guinness World Record). It was open in 1898 and even has a vegetarian butcher shop! It's called Hiltl.

It's beautiful inside.

We had a vegetarian steak tartare that tasted just like beef!

And for lunch, I had a vegetarian hamburger…it was amazing and so were the fries!

I also had a ginger citrus drink and I knew I wanted to come home and recreate it!

Squeeze the lemons.

And mix with sugar and water. Add more sugar if you'd like.

I peel the ginger with the edge of a spoon.

And then grate it.

Honestly if you would like more ginger, you can add more. That's what I would do! If you like a less gingery taste, add less. You can customize it to your taste!

The next time I make these, I'm going to add a little gin to it! I hope you love this ginger lemonade drink just as much as I do!

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Ginger Lemonade Recipe

Servings 3 to 4 drinks

Ingredients

• approximately 6 ounces freshly squeezed lemon juice 4 lemons
• 2 Tablespoons granulated sugar
• 16 ounces water
• 2 teaspoons freshly grated ginger
• ice

Instructions

• Mix lemon juice with sugar and add water and mix together. Add more sugar to taste, if necessary. Add grated ginger and mix together. Add ice to glasses and pour in ginger lemonade.
• Can be stored in the refrigerator for a few days in a tightly sealed container.

Notes

Inspired by the ginger citrus drink I had at Hiltl in Zurich, Switzerland.

Disclosure: This post and my trip to Zurich is sponsored by Visit Zurich. All opinions are my own and I always only share with you what I love.

The post Ginger Lemonade appeared first on The Little Kitchen.

I have an obsession with ordering dumplings and potstickers when eating out…but over the last couple of years, a bigger obsession with making them at home. I freeze them for snacks, lunch, dinner, whatever. Along with cookie dough and egg rolls, I have to have frozen dumplings in the freezer for when the craving arrives!

Last month, on a whim and for a crazy reason I'm too embarrassed to share with you, I decided to trek it to Minneapolis, Minnesota to visit my friend, Brenda, and her family. She thought I was crazy, my husband thought I was crazy, everyone did ok? What was I thinking going from Florida to Minnesota in the winter?

When I arrived, Brenda took to me to the Mall of America. I had a blast, it was huge. We had lunch with our friend, Allison and then came home to her house where she gave me tons more clothing so we could go sledding!

I took pictures on the way…haha.

That's not me…because I didn't think to ask Brenda or one of her girls to take of a photo of me sledding…the pictures would have been horrible anyways…because I was flailing all over the place. It was fun though, when I wasn't scared!

For dinner, Brenda made us Hotdish!

We had Puppy Dog Tails at Isles Bun & Coffee. Basically instead of cinnamon buns, they make twists and they have the cutest name. ever. And they come with a cup of cream cheese frosting. Enough said.

I just loved this sign! So true.

And then we made potstickers. I showed Brenda and her girls how to pleat them! <3 <3 We made this dumpling recipe.

And then we proceeded to eat a bunch…

Way too many…the girls loved them, which warmed my heart!

And after we made dumplings, we went and had dinner with our friend, Becky (who is the sweetest)…and these fries OMG with dipping sauces. Patriots Tavern is a can't miss place!

I had a great time with Brenda and her family. I treasured my time with them. We squeezed so much in in two days and had a blast. Brenda and her family are the sweetest ever…I'm so thankful I had the time to get to know her family and to be able to count Brenda as one of my dearest friends. <3 And now for the dumplins! When I got home, wanted to make dumplings again...

This is a twist on the chive dumplings you can get at dim sum restaurants…I just make them potsticker style.

And thank goodness for finding round gyoza wrappers…I don't have to cut circles out of squares anymore!

Watch my quick video on how to pleat dumplings:

easy peasy, right?

First with the green onions. I cut them length-wise down the middle first and then slice them, that way I get smaller pieces.

KitchenIQ sent me this grater tool for ginger…it works beautifully and is so much easier than trying to mince it by hand.

Add the ginger to a bowl with the green onions.

Then, cut up the chives.

Mix the chives with the ginger and garlic and then mix it all together with the mashed shrimp.

Get your workspace ready. I cover a baking sheet with parchment paper and have a little bowl of water all ready.

About to pleat.

I love how they look all lined up.

And done! Don't forget, my video on how to pleat dumplings; makes it so easy.

Writing this post is making me hungry for potstickers again!

Soy sauce is all you need for these dumplings.

I know you won't be able to eat just one.

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Shrimp & Chive Dumpling Recipe

Servings 45 to 50 potstickers

Ingredients

• 1 green onion sliced length-wise and then sliced small
• 2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger
• 2 ounces chives chopped small (about 1 cup)
• salt and pepper
• 1 pound fresh or frozen large shrimp peeled, deveined and rinsed
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• 1 package round dumpling wrappers about 40 to 50
• grapeseed or vegetable oil for cooking

Instructions

•  In a small mixing bowl, mix green onions, ginger, chives and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Add 1 Tablespoon water, mix and set aside.
• Prep shrimp, smash with the side of a knife and rough chop. Mix chive mixture and shrimp together. Add 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1/8 teaspoon pepper and sesame oil and mix thorougly.
• Make sure the filling is nicely seasoned. Heat a nonstick skillet on medium with a teaspoon of grapeseed or vegetable oil for 2 to 3 minutes. Add 1 teaspoon of filling to the skillet and cook for 2 to 3 minutes on each side. Taste the filling once it's fully cooked (and cooled a little bit, it will be hot!) and add more salt and pepper if necessary to the bowl of filling.
• To wrap the dumplings. Set up a small bowl of water and wnwrap dumpling wrappers (leaving them in the wrapper but also covering with a wet paper towel to insure they don't dry up) and one at a time, scoop about a teaspoon of filing into the middle of your wrapper. Dab a small spot of water onto the middle top of your dumpling, fold in half and press to seal. Using your thumb and finger, fold pleats into the dumpling on one side and then do the same for the other side. For reference, check out my video on how to wrap potstickers.
• Cook the Potstickers. Make about 8 to 12 at a time to not crowd the pan (depending on the size of your pan). Add 1/2 tablespoon oil to a nonstick skillet and turn heat to medium for about 3 minutes. Add dumplings to the skillet and cover. Cook for about 2 to 3 minutes. If frozen, add an extra minute. Uncover and add 1/4 cup of water (1/3 cup if frozen) and recover and allow potstickers to steam for about 3 to 4 minutes (4 to 6 minutes if frozen).
• Tip: These dumplings freeze nicely. Place them uncooked on a plate or parchment covered baking sheet and freeze for at least 30 minutes. Once they are frozen, place them in a zippered plastic bag and label it with the date and the name of the recipe. Follow the above instructions

Other Dumpling recipes:

Shrimp & Mushroom Potstickers
Chinese Dumplings
Pork Potstickers
Kimchi Dumplings
Potstickers

Disclosure: I received a ginger grater from KitchenIQ for the purpose of review. I only share with you my favorite brands and products. There is an affiliate link in this post.

The post Shrimp & Chive Dumplings appeared first on The Little Kitchen.

I had no idea potstickers were so easy to make. Seriously…so easy or you can make them into dumplings. Whichever way you like them – either pan fried and steamed or just steamed.

I probably sound super cheesy when I say over and over again that I'm truly thankful for my friends. I have had to learn the hard way, after hitting some bumps, that I need to appreciate those true friends that I do have and to hold them close. I have a handful of friends who are incredibly generous and supportive and I feel like such a lucky girl! One of those friends is Aggie. We had been chatting about getting together (we live an hour away from each other) and cooking forever. It finally happened last week and we made these potstickers and Aggie made these amazing Asian turkey meatballs. She also made this amazing salad with the meatballs (she's sharing it soon)…seriously layers of amazingness in that salad. I can't wait to make it myself at home!

So for the potstickers – they are cooked in a skillet with some oil (covered) and then you after they brown, you can add some water and cover again to steam them. To make them as dumplings, you just steam them in a wok. My favorite wok? Jaden's wok – hands down. I love it for stir fries, for steaming and to make fried rice of course! For inspiration and the how to wrap the potstickers – I used Bee's book, Easy Chinese Recipes. And with the Chinese/Lunar New Year coming up in a couple of weeks, this is the perfect dish to serve!

Start by getting all of the vegetables ready – carrots, Napa cabbage, green onions and fresh ginger. Nothing beats fresh ginger – except for maybe fresh garlic. Skip the jarred stuff when it comes to garlic and ginger, trust me.

A tip I learned from my friend, Jaden, cook a couple pieces of your filling in a skillet to make sure you have the seasoning right.

Combine the veggies with the meat – I have officially made this recipe three times now. Once with Aggie and twice by myself. We used ground turkey and I have even made it with ground chicken. Both work great and I'm not sure I have a favorite between the two. This is a little different since traditional potstickers are made with ground pork.

Aren't they cute? Those cute little pleats aren't hard at all. Aggie filmed me wrapping potstickers or dumplings to show you how easy it is! (Video below)

So simple, I know you can do it. Seriously you can, I believe in you! Thank you, Aggie, for your wonderful video handiwork!

If you're steaming them, hopefully your wok has a steamer rack like Jaden's does and place a piece of parchment paper on top. Fill the wok up with water just below the steamer rack.

Add your dumplings and be sure to cover your wok and steam for 5 to 8 minutes.

These potstickers even freeze really well. I put them on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet and stuck them in the freezer (for about a couple of hours) and then you can put them into freezer-friendly zippered plastic bags – be sure to label them and date them.

Fresh or frozen, potstickers cook up nicely. I used a non-stick skillet and heated canola oil on medium heat. Add the potstickers and cover.

Cook for 3 to 5 minutes and then add 1/4 cup of water (1/3 cup if they are frozen) and cover again to steam.

This is a photo of the potstickers right after I added the water. Be careful, the water will sizzle and pop!

This is after about 4 to 5 minutes of cooking the potstickers covered. If there's a little bit of water left, I usually uncover and let the water evaporate with the heat turned off.

And they are ready to serve with your dipping sauce. Easy peasy. The ones above are steamed Chinese dumplings. I hope this motivates you to try them and try them with different meats and different vegetables – the possibilities are endless and I love that they freeze easily. Curtis enjoyed them with steamed Jasmine rice. And you can make them a few weeks ahead of time and cook them right before a party and everyone will be so impressed!

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Chinese Potstickers with a Ginger-Scallion Dipping Sauce

Servings 40 to 50 Potstickers or Dumplings

Ingredients

Potstickers or Dumplings

• 1/2 cup cabbage chopped small
• 1/4 cup carrots washed, peeled and grated/shredded (about 1/2 carrot
• 1/4 cup green onions chopped (about 3 green onions)
• 1 Tablespoon fresh ginger minced
• 1 pound ground turkey or chicken
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• 1/2 Tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 package dumpling or wonton wrappers if square, cut into round circles with a cookie cutter, about 48-50
• canola oil for making potstickers
• water

Ginger-Scallion Dipping Sauce

• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1 1/2 Tablespoons green onions chopped (about 1 1/2 green onions)
• 1/2 Tablespoon fresh ginger minced

Instructions

Potstickers or Dumplings

• In a large mixing bowl, combine ground turkey or chicken with vegetables and sesame oil, soy sauce, salt and pepper. Cook a couple of pieces of your filling either flat or rolled up as a meatball in a skillet on your stove before filling the potstickers to make sure the seasoning is right. If needed, add more soy sauce, salt and/or pepper.
• Set up a small bowl of water and wnwrap dumpling wrappers (leaving them in the wrapper but also covering with a wet paper towel to insure they don't dry up) and one at a time, scoop about a teaspoon of filing into the middle of your wrapper. Dab a small spot of water onto the middle top of your dumpling, fold in half and press to seal. Using your thumb and finger, fold pleats into the dumpling on one side and then do the same for the other side. For reference, check out my video on how to wrap potstickers.
• Repeat until you have no more dumpling wrappers or no more filling.

How to Make Potstickers

• I usually make about 8 to 10 at a time to not crowd the pan. Add 1/2 Tablespoon oil to a non-stick skillet and turn heat to medium. Add dumplings to the skillet and cover. Cook for about 2 to 3 minutes. If frozen, add an extra minute. Uncover and add 1/4 cup of water (1/3 cup if frozen) and recover and allow potstickers to steam for about 3 to 4 minutes (4 to 6 minutes if frozen).

How to Make Steamed Dumplings

• Same for steamed dumplings, I only like to make 8 to 10 at a time. Add steamer rack to your wok and and fill with water - not allowing the water to touch the rack. Top with parchment paper (don't cover the entire rack). Cover and turn heat to medium high. Once the water starts bubbling up to a boil, add dumplings and steam for about 5 to 8 minutes (add 4 to 6 extra minutes if dumplings are frozen).
• Serve with dipping sauce or even just soy sauce.
• These are definitely freezer friendly. Place uncooked dumplings onto a plate or a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper and freeze for at least 2 hours. Once frozen, they can go into a freezer friendly container or zippered plastic bag. Label your containers and when steaming or making them as potstickers, follow instructions above on what times and how much water to increase by.

Ginger-Scallion Dipping Sauce

• Mix ingredients together and set aside until ready to serve.

Notes

Adapted from these Potstickers that also appear in Easy Chinese Recipes.

Disclosure: I was given Jaden's Steamy Kitchen wok for review and my opinions are my own and I only share with you products I love! There are affiliate links in this post.

The post How to Make Chinese Potstickers (with Video) appeared first on The Little Kitchen.

We went to World Market last weekend and I loaded up on ingredients…from udon noodles to my favorite salsa. I spend way too much at that store. By the way, I mentioned this on twitter recently and have before…they have the best idea for shopping baskets…on wheels!

And then I saw this (above). Organic ramen and organic soba noodles too. I had to get it and I knew I wanted to make soup…with tofu! I adore tofu, y'all. I grew up on it. My Mom cooked it all the time.

Before you think I'm getting all healthy on you or even vegetarian…I'm not. I'm a meat eater who loves tofu. I don't have to meat at every meal to feel satisfied and I most certainly feel that this is comfort food.

It's quick and easy to make and as I note below in the recipe, you can sub out different vegetables and even add cooked chicken if you don't like tofu. I made this for lunch yesterday really quickly and I know it's going to become a regular for me while working from home. Now if I can just get my husband to try tofu…

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Quick Tofu Ramen Noodle Soup

This soup is simple to make and you can easily substitute ingredients to your liking. You can change out the celery for broccoli or napa cabbage. And even change out the imitation crab for shrimp or just omit it. Also, sub out the tofu for cooked chicken if you'd like. To make this soup vegetarian, use vegetable broth and omit the crab. It's pretty versatile and a quick soup you'll enjoy for lunch or dinner!

Prep Time 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes minutes

Total Time 35 minutes minutes

Servings 2

Ingredients

• 90 g organic ramen noodles 1/3 of a 270g package
• 1 tsp vegetable or canola oil
• 1-2 garlic cloves minced
• 1-2 tsp ginger minced
• 14.5 oz can low sodium chicken or vegetable broth or 2 cups homemade stock
• 2 Tbsp celery chopped small
• 3 button mushrooms sliced
• 2-3 oz imitation crab meat
• 3-4 oz firm tofu cut up into 1 or 1 1/2 cubes

Instructions

• Bring water to boil for the ramen noodles. Cook according to package instructions.
• As the water is boiling, prepare the garlic and ginger and chop the celery and slice the mushrooms.
• Add oil to a small or medium saucepan at medium heat for 2-3 minutes. Add garlic and ginger for 60-90 seconds. Don't allow the garlic to burn.
• Add broth to the saucepan and bring to a boil. Add celery, mushrooms, imitation crab and tofu and return a boil. Lower heat to low or medium low and allow the broth to simmer for 2-3 minutes.
• Arrange two soup bowls, each with half of the prepared ramen noodles. Evenly divide the broth between the bowls and serve immediately. (The noodles and the broth can be stored in the fridge but separately.)

Disclosure: There is an affiliate link in this post.

The post Quick Tofu Ramen Noodle Soup appeared first on The Little Kitchen.

You see…I had plans, plans to make Vietnamese egg rolls with my Mom on Christmas Eve but then we changed our holiday plans and we ended up driving over to Orlando to see family & have dim sum on Christmas morning instead of having Christmas Eve dinner at our house. Anyways, long story short…no Vietnamese egg rolls!

I still wanted egg rolls and we were invited to a small block party with neighbors. The cul-de-sac next to our street…every year on Christmas Eve they light luminaries and have a pot luck. We get invited every year but since we host Christmas Eve for my family, we have never been able to attend but since plans changed, we decided to attend and I made Chinese egg rolls. Jaden's egg rolls…she made them for me, Jessica and Bev last month.

By the way, the egg rolls were a hit at the block party! The party was so fun and we're so lucky to have such great, fun neighbors. We even fed a few of our city's police officers. One of my neighbors'…their daughter-in-law is a police officer and was off-duty. She told her co-workers to come on over and have some food with us. You wouldn't believe, not even after 2 minutes sitting down with us and after making their plate…they got called out on a call. One of the officers ran back and grabbed an egg roll for the road.

I can't say enough how thankful I am to have such wonderful friends. Last month, Jaden invited us to her house for a girls' weekend. There we are with Coco, her sweet dog! Don't tell my dog, Charley, but I love staying with friends who have dogs…they become my fill-in petting and playing when I have to be away from my doggie.

We made egg rolls, remember? When I was rolling egg rolls by my lonesome self, I texted Jessica (above) and told her how much quicker it was when we made rolled them all together at Jaden's. PS Love Jessica, she's so awesome, a friend and tons of baking talent!!

Jaden's hands move quick…she was showing us how to roll them up. For the best tips on how to roll egg rolls and mishaps you want to avoid, check out Steamy Kitchen.

Have a bowl of cornstarch and water, dip your finger in and dab the closing edge of the egg roll. Be sure to the cover the egg roll/spring roll wraps that you're not using while you're preparing the egg rolls, you don't want the wraps to dry out and become brittle.

Aren't Jaden & Scott's boys cute? They are so cute and such helpful, sweet kids! Love them! Love Bev too, she is so hilarious and fun!

Dinner is ready and we wheeled our dinner out to…

a nice fire. We have been wanting to buy a fire pit for our backyard forever. Going to Jaden's and sitting by this nice fire during dinner makes me want one even more!

The next morning Jaden watered her beautiful garden and we held chickens. I handed my iPhone to Andrew, Jaden's son, and asked him to take a picture. This is the only picture he snapped before Jessica's chicken ran off! I just love that he caught this moment.

Then, we went over to Jaden's lake (it's huge!) and fed the fish. And then Coco the attack dog proceeded to attack Jessica with wet, slobbery kisses.

I love Coco! Spending a little time with her reminds me of how much I miss having a girl dog. We lost our Cinder over three years ago and still miss her terribly. I've been thinking and we keep discussing it, I think 2012 is the year we're going to adopt a little girl dog! Charley needs a buddy again. Of course no dog will ever replace her!

What a fun weekend we had! Thanks to Jaden for having us. We had so much fun!! Can we do it again?

Carrots all shredded up and the cabbage too. I really need a mandoline or a shredder tool for the carrots, I know it would make my life much easier.

I used dried black mushrooms that you can buy at the Asian grocery store, the bag is usually labeled black fungus. Soak them for them overnight or for at least 4 hours and then then slice them thinly. You can also use fresh shitake mushrooms.

The perfect amount of meat for the filling!

Jaden says that a very wet filling will make for soggy egg rolls so be sure to blot the mixture with paper towels and to drain the oil and juices by tilting the baking pan to one end and allowing it to drain or blotting with a paper towel once again.

Now for the fun part, you need to wait (you don't want to burn your mouth) but you don't have to wait that long. Allow them to cool a little. They're sitting atop a (baking) cooling rack set on top of a baking sheet that has a paper towel in it.

They are light and crispy and not at all greasy tasting. I love the ginger flavor and it has the right amount of filling…3 bites and it's gone! I ate the one above as soon as I was done photographing it.

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Jaden's Chinese Egg Rolls

These egg rolls are incredibly easy to make and even faster to roll up if you have family or friends to help you.

Prep Time 1 hour hour

Cook Time 20 minutes minutes

Servings 50 egg rolls

Ingredients

For the Meat

• 1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts, diced small
• 3/4 lb peeled & deveined shrimp diced small
• 1 Tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tsp cornstarch
• 1/4 tsp sugar
• fresh ground black pepper

For the Vegetables

• 1/2 head of cabbage
• 3 carrots shredded
• 3 garlic cloves finely minced
• 2-3 tsp grated fresh ginger
• 10 fresh shiitake mushrooms or dried black mushrooms soaked overnight, stems discarded, sliced into thin strips
• 1 Tbsp Chinese rice wine
• 1 Tbsp soy sauce
• 1/4 tsp sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• Fresh ground black pepper
• 50 Spring/Egg Roll Wrappers 2 packages, defrost them in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours
• 1 Tbsp cornstarch or flour mixed with ¼ cup of cool water
• 1 Tbsp vegetable oil plus more for frying

Instructions

• Combine the ingredients under the 'for the meat' heading (chicken, shrimp, soy sauce, cornstarch, sugar and ground pepper) in a medium sized bowl and allow to sit at room temperature to marinate for at least 10 minutes.
• In another bowl or large measuring cup, mix together the rice wine, soy sauce, sugar, salt, sesame oil and pepper and set aside.
• Add 1 Tbsp of vegetable oil in a wok or large, deep saute pan and turn heat to the high setting. Heat pan until the oil coats the pan easily when turning and rotating it. Add the chicken & shrimp mixture and cook for 4-5 minutes.
• Turn heat down to low or medium low. Move the chicken and shrimp mixture to one side of the pan. Add the vegetables (carrots & cabbage), garlic, ginger and mushrooms and stir-fry for 2 minutes or until the vegetables are softened. Add the rice wine-sesame oil mixture. Continue cooking the vegetables for 1 to minute and then mix the vegetables with the chicken and shrimp.
• Remove the filling from the wok or pan, scoop with a large slotted spoon (don't pour) onto a baking sheet. Spread the filling out and allow the mixture to cool. Using paper towels, blot it to remove the juice from the cooked filling. Tilt one end of baking sheet to allow the oil and juices to drain to one end of the baking sheet. Blot with a paper towel or drain the juices. Allow the filling mixture to sit and cool for at least 15 minutes.
• Fill each egg roll with one heaping Tbsp of filling (making sure to grab an even amount of meat as well as veggies). Roll egg rolls carefully and seal by dipping and blotting with the water and cornstarch mixture. For full instructions on how to roll egg rolls, see Jaden's post:

  http://steamykitchen.com/13029-my-mothers-famous-chinese-egg-rolls-2.html.
• Clean wok or pan and fill with at least 2 inches of vegetable oil. Heat pan on high for at least 5 minutes until it reaches 350 degrees. Carefully add 6-8 egg rolls and fry for 3-4 minutes or golden brown. Allow egg rolls to cool slightly on a rack set up on another baking sheet.

Cook's Notes:

• These egg rolls freeze great (freeze them after rolling them & before frying them). I put them in a plastic zippered bag separating the layers with parchment paper. No need to defrost them, add them to the heated oil (very carefully) and fry them a couple of minutes longer than usual.
• Chinese rice wine has been so hard for me to find. I finally found it at my local Asian grocery store and was able to purchase a huge bottle for less than $2!
• It's mine and Jaden's advice to buy the paper thin egg roll/spring roll wrappers at your local Asian grocery store in the freezer section. Don't buy the refrigerated brands that you can in your produce section near the tofu. They will not taste the same nor will they come out the same. The recommended egg roll wrappers are the same wrappers my Mom uses when she makes Vietnamese egg rolls.
• Try Jaden's original recipe with ground pork!

Notes

Modified from Steamy Kitchen's Mother's Famous Chinese Egg Rolls.

Don't tell Meemaw (my Mom) how much Charley loved the egg rolls. He was begging for them after I photographed them and every time I fired up the wok to fry some up. I seriously need to make more of these…this weekend.

Not shown above but my dog was getting unruly and barking at us to give him the egg rolls. He only got a bite or two…he can't get too many table scraps because of a health condition but we don't let him go completely without!

Now I need to call my Mom and reschedule our egg roll making session!

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