Make Ahead

Cauliflower Egg Rolls...?

by:
October  5, 2010
4.5
2 Ratings
  • Serves 2
Author Notes

I bought cauliflower to experiment with since our usual cauliflower recipes are, well, usual. My husband is on an egg roll kick so I had leftover wrappers, sesame oil, rice vinegar, etc. These actually turned out quite tasty and not too far off from the usual cabbage filled version. - nannydeb —nannydeb

Test Kitchen Notes

The filling in this recipe really works -- the cauliflower is a great substitute for cabbage and the hint of sesame from the oil ties it all together. I made a dipping sauce from apricot jam and sriracha that was a nice compliment to the flavors in the eggrolls. I'll take these over traditional eggrolls any day! – FrozenFoodie —The Editors

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Ingredients
  • 2 tablespoons vegetable or peanut oil, plus lots more for frying
  • 2 tablespoons celery, minced
  • 1/4 cup red bell pepper, minced
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 1 teaspoon fresh ginger, grated
  • 1 tablespoon fresh jalapeno, minced
  • 1 1/2 cups cauliflower, chopped small
  • 2 green onions, chopped
  • 1/4 cup roasted, salted peanuts, chopped small
  • 2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
  • 1 tablespoon tamari or soy sauce
  • 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
  • egg roll wrappers
  • corn starch
  • hot Chinese mustard
  • Sriracha sauce
Directions
  1. In a skillet or pot, start heating the oil for frying.
  2. In another large skillet, heat 2 tablespoons oil.
  3. To the second skillet, add all vegetables and cook 8-10 minutes or until cauliflower softens. Add the peanuts, sesame oil, tamari, and rice vinegar. Cook another 2-3 minutes or until most of the liquid is gone.
  4. Put cooked veggies in a colander to drain. You want the filling to be as dry as possible.
  5. To check to see if the frying oil is hot enough, I pinch a bit of wrapper and drop it in and see if it fries up. If not, wait a little longer and check again.
  6. To prepare to make the egg rolls, put a little water in a small bowl and some corn starch in another small bowl.
  7. On a clean work surface, lay out an egg roll wrapper and dust it with cornstarch.
  8. Place 2-3 tablespoons of the filing in the middle and start rolling it up tight. Tuck the two outside corners in about mid-way and continue rolling.
  9. Wet the last corner with the water and roll up. Set aside until you have them all rolled.
  10. When the oil is hot, carefully place the prepared egg rolls in the pan.
  11. Fry the egg rolls for 6-8 minutes or until golden brown.
  12. Drain on paper towels.
  13. Serve with hot Chinese mustard and/or Sriracha sauce.

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Recipe by: nannydeb

Former restaurant manager (and waitress, bartender, etc). I love food: eating, trying new recipes, shopping for it, talking/emailing about it, etc. My foodie friend and pen pal got me interested in recipe contests and also turned me on to food52 and now I'm obsessed!

3 Reviews

Loves F. October 6, 2010
I love that the name of the recipe has a "?" in it. These sound so good!
Sagegreen October 5, 2010
Very cool and artsy!
nannydeb October 5, 2010
P.S. I wasn't trying to be artsy with the picture- I accidentally squirted sriracha sauce across the plate and table...