We’re doing the cooking!

The smell of grease and an open fire was upon me as I lazily sauntered into the kitchen a few afternoons ago. My mom, an avid cook, your typical 5 foot, half an inch Asian lady, was at it again. She really doesn’t know how to relax after years of working non-stop. So, after cleaning the house from top to bottom and tending to her wild herb garden, she decides that it’s time to make her own eggrolls. We usually get this treat after she sees that we’ve eaten healthy for an extended amount of time.

I had the dangerous task of lighting the backyard gas burner which my dad insisted on setting up after incessantly complaining that our regular kitchen range flame was too weak. He is a cook in a Chinese restaraunt so he knows his heat. After about 30 seconds, the entire bottle of vegetable oil I poured into the wok was nice and watery, which is the indication that it’s prime time for some frying!

Here is my mom carefully placing the eggrolls into the piping hot vat of oil. It’s a delicate process.

Here she is manuevering the eggrolls in place for the first fry phase (the second phase is to help keep the crispyness of the outer shell after the eggrolls cool off (I didn’t know that either!).

The finished product: Lean ground pork, thinly sliced carrot strips, fried egg strips, stir fried cabbage (extra pepper), wrapped up in a mouthwatering crispy shell. “Sweet and Sour” glaze drizzled on top (tomato paste, vinegar, sugar, water, cornstarch, bring to a boil) with green onion shavings.

Damn straight!!! I’m a bit biased, but it was obviously delicious. You risk burning your lips on the fresh off the fryer shell to get to the “ham”, which is warm and inviting. The texture was grainy because of the pork but not dry, thanks to the juices from the cabbage and carrots. I ate eight of those rolls of heaven for dinner. And another five the next day. That’s why mom only allows for this every other month. =)