Egg Rolls (Real Chinese Takeout Recipe!) - The Woks of Life

9/7/23, 12:45 PM Egg Rolls (Real Chinese Takeout Recipe!
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9/7/23, 12:45 PM Egg Rolls (Real Chinese Takeout Recipe!) - The Woks of Life
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Egg rolls. They’re the quintessential Chinese takeout food. This 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
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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!
Note: This recipe was originally published on November 10, 2014. We have since updated it with new
photos, clearer instructions, nutrition information, and more. Enjoy!
How to Wrap Egg Rolls

How to wrap Chinese takeout-style egg rolls at home!
WHAT A R E E G G ROLLS?
Egg rolls are fried, savory rolls, generally filled with cabbage chopped Chinese roast pork.
The wheat flour based wrappers form small bubbles when fried, giving them their signature
look.
*Important details
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It is an American creation that evolved from Chinese spring rolls (check out our Shanghai
Style Spring Roll recipe 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.
A RESTAU R A N T RECIPE
×
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. SURP R I S E

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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.
ADAP T I N G & STORING

That said, 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 R O L L R E C I PE INSTRUCTIONS
M A K I NG THE FILLING :
Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Put the savoy cabbage, green cabbage, carrots, and celery
into the boiling water and cook for about 2 minutes. Transfer the veggies to an ice bath and
drain.
Thoroughly squeeze out all the excess water from the vegetables (you can putSURP
theRdrained
ISE
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veggies in a clean kitchen towel and squeeze out the water). This is a very important
step. If the filling is too wet, you will have a wet filling and soggy egg rolls!
A Chinese bamboo strainer/spider really comes in handy for scooping veggies out of the
boiling water and even for frying the egg rolls if you are making a large batch. Check out
our Chinese Cooking tools page to see what we use in our kitchen.
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×
Once dry, transfer the veggies to a large mixing bowl. Add the scallions, salt, sugar, sesame
oil, 2 tablespoons oil, five spice powder (if using), white pepper, Chinese roast pork, and
cooked shrimp (if using). Toss everything together. SURP R I S E

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NOTE: One of our readers reported that his egg rolls were bland. We all have different taste
preferences, and varying methods of measurement when it comes to portioning out ingredients. It’s a
good idea to try the filling at this point and adjust the seasoning to taste.
As a general rule, the filling will taste a little bit more salty at this point, until it has a chance to
absorb the seasonings. Remember though, you can add seasoning when you eat the egg rolls, but if
they’re too salty, there is little that can be done to save the batch. Keep this in mind when re-
seasoning.
You may also want to wrap a test egg roll and fry it to check the taste before you wrap the entire lot.
We always did this at the restaurant before we made a batch of 600!
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If you prefer using chicken, see our recipe for chicken egg rolls. You can also add shrimp to
those if you like.
Okay, the filling is ready to be wrapped! ×
Back in the day, the egg roll wrappers at the restaurant used to come in 5-pound
SURPbundles.
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Each person would start with one and work their way down the stack, which made about
120 egg rolls.
We were pretty expert at making sure we had enough filling so that there’d be no leftover
wrappers. It’s not an exact science, so play it by ear.
W R A P PING THE EGG R O L L S :
The way to wrap these egg rolls is to first take a small fistful of filling, squeeze it a little in
your hand until it is compressed together, and place it on the wrapper.
Check out the photos below to see how to wrap them. Basically, it’s similar to the method
you’d use to wrap a burrito. Just add a thin layer of egg to make sure it stays sealed. Line
them up on a lightly floured surface, and continue assembling until you run out of
ingredients.
You can also watch the video on this page, demonstrating the folding technique or check
our article on How to Fold Egg Rolls.
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Check out our Chinese Noodles and wrappers page to see more on egg roll and spring roll
wrappers, as well as all kinds of noodles.
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FRY I NG THE EGG ROL L S :

In a small pot, heat the oil to 325 degrees. You don’t need too much—just enough to
submerge the egg rolls.
Carefully place a couple egg rolls into the oil, and fry them for about 5 minutes until golden
brown. Keep them moving in the oil to make sure they fry evenly.
My father used to tell me that frying egg rolls was a fool-proof task. You just slide them
gently into the oil, and keep them moving while they are frying. When they’re done, they’ll
“call” you with a slightly louder sizzling noise.
That splattering noise is signaling that the filling is getting hot inside. The steam is escaping,
causing the oil to bubble up.
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You can serve them after they’ve cooled a bit, either by themselves, or with a little duck
sauce, Chinese hot mustard, or hot sauce.
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Freeze leftovers in freezer bags and reheat them in the oven. Enjoy folks!
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RECIPE
4.93 from 136 votes
COPYCAT TA K E O UT EGG ROLLS

Egg rolls are the quintessentialI'dChinese
like to receivetakeout
more tips &food. Here's
recipes from Woks our
of Life.family's restaurant recipe—a
100% accurate, easy-to-follow egg roll recipe to make at home!

by: bill course: appetizers and snacks cuisine: chinese
SERVES: 24 tap or hover # to scale
 P R E P: 1 hour 30 minutes C O O K: 30 minutes TOTAL: 2 hours
 
PRINT R ATE
I N G RED I E N TS
8 cups savoy cabbage (shredded) ×
8 cups green cabbage (shredded)
2 cups carrot (shredded) For adults withSURP

type 2 R
diabetes,
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exercise, to 
2 cups celery (shredded) lower blood sugar
3 scallions (chopped) Ask your health care

provider about the
2 1/2 teaspoons salt Ozempic® Tri-Zone.
2 teaspoons sugar Actor portrayal. Michael
has type 2 diabetes Learn more
and known heart disease.
1 tablespoon sesame oil Scroll down for Limitations of Use in "What is Ozempic®?"
2 tablespoons peanut or vegetable oil (plus Important Safety Information

Do not share your Ozempic® pen with other
more, for frying) people, even if the needle has been changed.
You may give other people a serious infection,
1/4 teaspoon five spice powder (optional) or get a serious infection from them.
Please click here for Prescribing Information.
What is the most important information I
1/4 teaspoon white pepper
3 cups roast pork (char siu, shredded or diced)
2 cups cooked shrimp (chopped, optional)
1 package egg roll wrappers (about 24 pieces)
1 egg (beaten)
I N STRU C T I O N S
1 Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Put the cabbage, carrots, and celery into the
boiling water and cook for about 2 minutes. Transfer the veggies to an ice bath
and drain. Thoroughly squeeze out all the excess water from the vegetables (you
can put the drained veggies in a clean kitchen towel and squeeze out the water).
This is a very important step because if the filling is too wet, you will have a wet
filling and soggy egg rolls!
2 Once dry, transfer the veggies to a large mixing bowl. Add the scallions, salt, sugar,
sesame oil, 2 tablespoons oil, five spice powder (if using), white pepper, roast pork,
and cooked shrimp (if using). Toss everything together. The filling is ready to be
wrapped!
3 To wrap the egg rolls, take a small fistful of filling, squeeze it a little in your hand
until it is compressed together, and place it on the wrapper. The wrapping method
is similar to that of a burrito. Just add a thin layer of egg to make sure it stays
sealed. Line them up on a lightly floured surface, and continue assembling until
you run out of ingredients.
4 In a small pot, heat oil to 325 degrees. You don't need too much—just enough to ×
submerge the egg rolls. Carefully place a couple egg rolls into the oil, and fry them
for about 5 minutes until golden brown. Keep them moving in the oilSURP
to make
RISE
 
sure they fry evenly. ME!
5 Cool slightly and serve! Freeze leftovers in

freezer bags and reheat them in the oven at
350 degrees, until crispy.
T I P S & N OT E S :
Makes about 2 dozen.
N UTR I TI O N FACTS
Calories: 186kcal (9%) Carbohydrates: 15g (5%)
Protein: 13g (26%) Fat: 8g (12%) Saturated Fat: 1g
(5%) Cholesterol: 85mg (28%) Sodium: 582mg (24%) Potassium: 269mg (8%) Fiber: 2g (8%)
Sugar: 2g (2%) Vitamin A: 2105IU (42%) Vitamin C: 18mg (22%) Calcium: 73mg (7%) Iron:
1.6mg (9%)
nutritional info disclaimer

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×
ABOUT BILL
Bill is the dad of The Woks of Life family. He grew up in upstate New York, working
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ME!
through high school and college in restaurants with his father, a chef. Rose from
beginnings as a Burger King sandwich assembler to Holiday Inn busboy and line cook, to
cooking at the family's Chinese restaurant, while also learning the finer points of
Cantonese cooking from his immigrant parents. Specializes in all things traditional
Cantonese and American Chinese takeout.
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9/7/23, 12:45 PM Egg Rolls (Real Chinese Takeout Recipe!

) - The Woks of Life

tap here to receive our free top 25 recipe book!

home  recipes  chinese takeout  egg rolls

enter your email

SEND ME THE RECIPES!

How to Wrap Egg Rolls

2023 Ford F-150® Truck

Now Is The Best Time To

Chinese restaurant. SURP R I S E

ADAP T I N G & STORING

cooked shrimp (if using). Toss everything together. SURP R I S E

Okay, the filling is ready to be wrapped! ×

W R A P PING THE EGG R O L L S :

FRY I NG THE EGG ROL L S :

4.93 from 136 votes

COPYCAT TA K E O UT EGG ROLLS

100% accurate, easy-to-follow egg roll recipe to make at home!

SERVES: 24 tap or hover # to scale

 P R E P: 1 hour 30 minutes C O O K: 30 minutes TOTAL: 2 hours

2 cups carrot (shredded) For adults withSURP

3 scallions (chopped) Ask your health care

2 tablespoons peanut or vegetable oil (plus Important Safety Information

5 Cool slightly and serve! Freeze leftovers in

nutritional info disclaimer

DID YOU MAKE THIS?

YOU MAY ALSO LIKE…

Avocado Egg Rolls Vegetable Egg Rolls

Chinese Tomato Egg Stir-fry Chinese Scallion Rolls with Bacon

PRE VIOUS POST

How to Make Golden Syrup

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