This past month, one of our Christmas house guests (a.k.a. our son) is a former Orthodox monk and observed the Nativity fast: no meat, no milk or egg products. As a result, my cooking horizons widened and became very creative. Because fish and shell fish can be eaten during the fast, Chinese stir fry became a staple menu item.

To add some variety, I made egg rolls a couple times.  The kids didn’t know that in my younger days when I had time for exotic cooking (i.e. before children), egg rolls frequently appeared at our table. They thought I was trying something new. The only thing I couldn’t remember was how to fold the wrap around the filling so the egg rolls were tight.

Since a few leftover wraps are still cluttering my refrigerator, we had egg rolls for supper again tonight. But before I started this time, I googled “egg roll wrapping.” The experts at the websites that popped up all said the secret is to lay the wraps horizontal and put the filling close to the bottom point, fold it over, and tuck the edges in tight before rolling it the rest of the way. I followed their advice, and the results are pictured above, still not as tight and firm as I’d like them. Maybe I need to call a Chinese restaurant and job shadow the appetizer chef.

Still, the egg roll filling was delicious. It consisted of 1/4 pound browned pork sausage (this is left out or replaced with shrimp during fasts), lots of chopped cabbage, a grated carrot, a couple tablespoons of soy sauce and a sprinkling of sesame seed, all stir-fried together in sesame oil. Messy to prepare, tasty to consume.

With the kids and the wraps all gone, I won’t make another batch for quite some time.  since fried food is too hard on the waistline, the spattered oil is too hard to get off the stove, and our son’s Lenten fast is two months away.  By then, I’ll be salivating for the floppy, crispy critters again.