Eggrolls and Vegetable Lo Mein

As I've mentioned before, there aren't any good Chinese restaurants in this area so I'm forced to make my own version of takeout. I decided on vegetable lo mein tonight, and since I was going to be chopping a ton of veggies, I thought I'd try to make homemade eggrolls too.

Eggrolls

I chopped up a bunch of veggies into tiny pieces - Napa cabbage, bean sprouts, carrots, green and red peppers, green onions, water chestnuts, and carrots. I then sauteed for 3-4 minutes them in a little bit of oil and soy sauce.

Once the veggies were done, I took one eggroll wrapper and put it on a cutting board that had been coated in flour. I put one scoop of the veggie mixture diagonally onto the shell, and then folded it up from the bottom, then each side, and then rolled the rest of the shell around it, wetting it to keep it closed. I continued and was able to make 6 rolls.

When I was ready to cook them, I heated about 1 cup of oil in a large pan. Each eggroll only took about 3 minutes on each side to turn to a nice, golden brown color.

The outcome - they were good, very crispy, and the filling was good, and I was pretty impressed with my rolling technique. They needed a dipping sauce and unfortunately I didn't have any hot Chinese mustard. I also needed one more flavor for inside the rolls, like some sort of spice, however I would definitely make them again.

Vegetable Lo Mein

Ingredients

• Chopped fresh veggies: 1 green onion, ½ head Chinese cabbage, 1 red pepper, 1 head broccoli, ½ c shredded carrots, 1 stalk celery, and any others you like
• 1 small can water chestnuts
• 3 cloves garlic
• ½ can chicken broth
• Sesame oil, about 2 tsp (or more if you like that peanut flavor)
• Olive oil, about 2 tsp
• Soy sauce, about 2 tbsp
• Red pepper flakes, maybe 10 shakes
• 1 box vermicelli or thin spaghetti
• Option: add chicken, pork, or shrimp

Directions

• Cook pasta; set aside
• In the mantime, heat olive oil and sesame oil in a large pan or wok
• Add garlic, saute. Add red pepper flakes.
• Add all veggies except cabbage; saute 2 min. Add cabbage and saute 1 min
• Add soy sauce and almost all of the chicken broth
• Once cooked, either remove the veggies into a bowl or use a separate pot for the next step
• Heat some oil, 2 tbs soy sauce, 1 tbs sesame oil, and the rest of the chicken broth. Add pasta and toss. Add cooked veggies.

I know it's not 100% authentic, but it tasted very good and was the perfect answer to our Chinese takeout cravings!