My Eggroll Tips

It was fun to make these egg rolls today. I had never bought some of these ingredients and was a little nervous shopping! Sooo, for all of you out there who have never used these ingredients I have a few tips!!! I'll go through them in the order they were listed in my first blog. First though, I have a few starter tips. Don't start actually cooking the recipe until you've got everything else chopped, minced, cut, or otherwise prepared. You don't want to leave things in the pan longer than the time called for to keep from burning it or over infusing it with taste!
--> 8 egg roll wrappers -these are found in the produce section, normally by the bagged lettuce/cabbage/spinach. At least at the stores here in Gillette!
--> 1 medium shallot - this is very similar to a sweet onion with some garlic. If you don't want to buy a shallot, you can subsitute a sweet onion and an extra garlic clove. I enjoyed using the shallot, though, and felt it was more genuine! I just cut it really small, then realized that I should have just used my FOOD CHOPPER. Hello! So, learn from me - use a food chopper! (Although I did find a neat way to chop it quickly, but that's a whole separate blog...) Also, shallots look like deformed small onions. You take the paper off just like you would an onion. They have a purple hue, under the skin. I found them in the same area as the jars of minced garlic.
--> 1 garlic clove, minced - we all know what these are...but I have to say...real garlic is much better than substituting...NO SUBSTITUTING THE POWDER in my recipes! Also, I used a very large clove...it would barely fit in the garlic press. It was perfect.
--> 2 tsp minced, fresh ginger -this was my favorite part. It was fun to buy (again in the produce department) fun to figure out how to use, and fun to succeed! Most recipes say to mince it...I think you could cut off a chunk about the size of what you need and send it through your garlic press. I didn't try that (because, once again, my brilliance arrived a little to late!), instead I used my food chopper. It worked WELL. Whatever you do, don't take anyone's advice and try to grate it on a microplane grater if it's fresh! It just mushes it! Here is a photo of my minced, fresh ginger (as well as the green onion...sharing a cutting board!)
--> 6 oz boneless, skinless chicken breast, shredded - I only had 4.8 ounces (to be exact)...I reccomend the full 6oz! Also, I hate shredding things. HATE. So I just cubed mine very small. It worked amazingly.
--> 1/3 cup Kikkoman Low Sodium Teriyaki Sauce - Teriyaki Baste and Glaze is what my bottle says...to be exact.
--> 2 tbsp rice vinegar - speaks for itself.
--> 1 tsp sugar - Now that I'm reading this I hope I only did a teaspoon! I'm pretty sure that's what it was. If it wasn't, it doesn't need more than a teaspoon.
--> 1 cup packaged coleslaw mix - next time I make this I'm going to just use regular cabbage (1 cup) and about 1/2 cub of julienned carrot. The pre-mixed stuff has just BARELY any... it's always better (and cheaper) to do it yourself! Also, I do realize that 1 and 1/2 equals more than the 1 cup it called for, but I found that it could have used a little more cabbage mix in it. I'm not sure if that was because I had less chicken or not.
--> 1/4 cup chopped green onions
--> 1/4 tsp sea salt - I used a little less (table)salt, and didn't have sea salt. SAD DAY. Yes, I will proudly admit, I am one of "those people" who swears...SWEARS...that sea salt is better. Love it.
--> 1/4 tsp black pepper - again, a little less. I'm the nervous type.
--> 1/8 tsp ground cumin - careful, this is strong stuff! Don't overdo it.
--> 1/2 cup of Kikkoman Sweet & Sour Sauce (for dipping) - we didn't use the sweet and sour..it was soooo good on its own!

You'll need your oven to be at 400*. Mince shallot and garlic and add to a wok (or large skillet if you must) coated with nonfat cooking spray (I used olive oil spray...and a lot of it) and cook over medium heat for 30 seconds. Add chicken and brown, stirring frequently with a wooden spoon; about 5 minutes.
(This picture was taken to try to show how small I cut the meat. I didn't actually shred it, I just cubed it fairly small!)Drain well. (Yah, I missed that "drain" part. So, apparently you don't have to drain it if you don't want to!) Add teriyaki sauce, vinegar, sugar, ginger, salt, pepper, and cumin; simmer for 3 minutes to blend flavors. Toss in packaged coleslaw mix and diced onions and saute for about 1 minute. On a flat surface, place one egg roll wrapper with a corner facing you (like a diamond!). Place in a row from bottom corner to top corner 4 full tablespoons of filling, leaving 1/2 inch at the bottom and top. (You will not get 8 eggrolls out of this recipe by doing 4 full Tablespoons of filling unless you add more cabbage.)

Fold the bottom of the wrapper to the center, over the filling. Gently, but firmly, fold the left side of the wrapper to the center and then fold in the right side. Roll up like a burrito and seal any loose ends with water; (I had a jar of water next to me to wet down the edges with. I figured it was better than licking my fingers to seal it!) repeat with remaining ingredients. Place filled wrappers on prepared baking sheet; lightly spray surface of wrappers with non fat cooking spray (I used the spray olive oil- yummm-o! Also, by lightly...it MEANS lightly. Trust me.)

Bake until wrappers are golden brown, flipping once, about 16 minutes.
Makes 8 eggrolls (It made 7 for me, and there was not 4 Tablespoons in each eggroll!)