Spring Rolls And Stir Fry

I love egg rolls and stir fries.  The stir fry is fairly easy if yu make sure to have everything prepared before you start cooking.    A co-worker of my Dad once said "cook til crisp".  It s easy to overcook the veggies in a stir fry.

The eggrolls are trickier.  Actually, I make Spring Rolls.  If I understand it correctly, Spring Rolls have meat,  Eggrolls don't.  I  buy baby Bok Choy mostly for the leaves.  They make a good start for holding the contents.  But spinach works and even green leaf lettuce.

I usually make a mix of roughly-chopped shrimp, shallots, boy choy stems, garlic, ginger, and red pepper flakes.  Some minced water chestnut or celery for crunch.

The Fry Baby works great for them.  Just wide and deep enough.  I deep fry in lard.  Fries better, and I don't make them so often to worry about it.

A good tossed salad, 2 small bowls of Duck sauce and hot mustard, and I'm set!

I have to mention that Egg/Spring Rolls from local chinese restaurants USED to by crisp and tasty.  Now they are mostly mush.  I bet they buy them now pre-made and frozen.  So that's why I make my own.

I also make my own fried shrimp.   A local place sells good large fresh deveined shrimp.  After removing the shells, I toss them in some cornstarch, dig each in a scambled egg and then in Panko or Italian canned bread crumbs.  Fry for a couple minutes til the coating in light-to-medium tan (depends on how cooked you like your shrimp).

BTW, I have a large-mesh skoop for the fried stuff and a fine-mesh scoop to scoop out the crumbs.  Removing the crumbs keeps the Veggie Crisco or Meat Lard fresher longer.

And I use Angel Hair Spaghetti in place of Chinese Noodles. It is just easier.  And the meat in my stir fry was cubed smoked pork shoulder.

I buy one about 3x a year, cut it into 2" slabs, smoke it, and cube it.  Divide it into 4 ounce portins and set each into sandwich bags for future use.    Same with steaks.  Chicken thighs get packed whole.