Egg Rolls

This is somewhat old news, but I can't believe I never wrote the post it deserves!

A couple of weeks ago a friend mentioned she had made egg rolls recently. She had used store-bought wrappers and cabbage-carrot filling and they sounded just fabulous. But, of course, when I went to Whole Foods to find "healthy" wrappers, all they had were the usual with white flour. What did I expect? Sprouted, sourdough, or whey-soaked egg roll wrappers? Hardly. Not in my right mind, anyway.

So I set out to make them from bulgur, hoping that this time the results would be worth the work, unlike my several bulgur flour mishaps.

The recipe I started with was run-of-the-mill, though some commenters said they had used whole wheat flour in it. That seemed like a good sign. But if you know me, you know I am not always a good pre-reader of recipes. It took me a while to realize that this recipe was making a flat, fried wrapper which could then be stuffed. And it used batter, not dough. So I tweaked a whole bunch and came up with something really yummy.

Wrapper:
1 egg, cold
3/4 c cold water (iced is good)
1 c bulgur flour (this is sprouted, dried and ground, if you recall, and you have to make it, since nobody sells it.)
about 1 c white flour
dash or two salt

My thinking is this: The bulgur flour is SO EXTREMELY nutrient rich that it should make up for the void found in the white flour. I've not experimented with using 100% bulgur, because I suspect it would not hold together as well or have as pleasant a texture. Someday, maybe I'll try that and let you know.

Mix all these ingredients together well except the white flour. Then add enough white flour to make a satisfyingly stiff dough. Let the dough stand while you make the filling.

Filling:
1 med-large cabbage
3-5 carrots
salt and pepper
leftover chicken, pork, or steak, cubed (optional)
1-2 scrambled eggs (optional)
garlic (fresh or granulated), to taste
ground ginger to taste (I don't measure spices. Washing those itty bitty spoons is a real pain)

butter, olive oil, and/or coconut oil for frying

Shred cabbage and peel and grate carrots. Saute in olive oil, butter, or a combination until soft and mellow. Add salt and pepper and spices to taste, and optional meat and eggs)

Break off a walnut-sized piece of dough (it really should break off. If not, you need to make the dough stiffer!) Roll into a circle or a squarish shape (not easy) about 3/16 inch thick (but please do not measure it!), using white flour to prevent sticking (yeah, yeah, you could figure that part out yourself).

Add a dollop of filling and wrap it so it looks like an egg roll.

Fry in the bottom of a wok with about 1/2" coconut oil, very hot, medium-high flame. Roll it around and make it look all bubbly and crispy.

Dip in a mix of soy sauce, honey, and apple cider vinegar. I can't bear to make up a recipe for that right now, so you will have to guess, sorry!