Crawfish and Pork Egg Rolls

A spin-off on Chinese pork egg rolls, which to this day, I'm not really sure is Chinese at all. School lunches, Panda Express... I ate crispy, doughy egg rolls filled with what I assume was pork, cabbage and maybe some carrots. They were pretty bland, probably packed full of sodium and tasted too "American," but my 10-year-old palate liked them none-the-less. Well, here's a recipe to all you non-Chinese American kids: may we never forget our first childhood memories of being introduced to "Chinese" cuisine, and may we all receive the opportunity to eat real Chinese food (sooner rather than) later in life.

Servings: 4
Prep Time: 30-45 minutes
Cooking Time: 30 minutes
Ingredients:
- 1 package of egg roll wrappers
- 1 pound of ground pork
- 2 cups of packaged broccoli slaw
- 1/2 teaspoon of sesame oil
- 1 tablespoon of Chinese rice cooking wine (not vinegar)
- 2 tablespoons of low sodium soy sauce, plus more
- 2 teaspoons of oyster sauce
- 2 scallions, chopped
- 1 inch of fresh ginger, peeled and grated 
- 1/2 cup of cooked crayfish tails, cooked, peeled and roughly chopped (or shrimp)
- peanut/vegetable oil for frying
- 1 egg plus water for sealing wrappers
- Mae Ploy sweet chili sauce for dipping

1. Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a skillet over medium-high heat, add broccoli slaw and a splash of soy sauce. Saute until soft, about 5-7 minutes, remove and set aside. 

2. In a medium bowl, combine pork, sesame oil, rice wine, 2 tablespoons of soy sauce, oyster sauce, scallion and ginger. Heat 1 tablespoon of oil over medium-high heat in a skillet and brown meat. Taste and adjust seasoning.

Transfer browned pork to a strainer to strain out any liquids-- wet ingredients will make wrappers soggy and cause tearing. Set aside.

3. Using the remaining grease in the skillet, quickly saute cooked crayfish tails to warm, 2 minutes. We cook crayfish tails ahead of time. We'll peel them and then freeze them for later.

If you don't have crayfish, add a bit of oil to cook raw shrimp.

4. Turn off heat and return browned pork and slaw to the skillet with the crayfish. Mix ingredients well. 

5. Lay 1 egg roll wrap on a flat, dry surface so that it looks like a diamond in front of you. Beat one egg and add a bit of water, and then brush the egg mixture all around the edges. 

Place 2 tablespoon, or so, of cooled filling along the bottom third of the wrap. 

Fold the two sides in, then the bottom corner up. Carefully roll the wrap and then seal. 

Repeat until you run out of wrappers. 

6. Heat 1 1/2 inches of oil in a frying pan to 370ºF-- we use a medium sauce pan to use less oil. 

Then fry egg rolls on both sides until golden brown. Fry in batches and drain on paper towels. 

Serve egg rolls with Mae Ploy sweet chili sauce (which is actually Thai) or any sauce you like.