Get excited for the Pastrami Egg Roll, an incredible fusion bringing together the best of Jewish and Chinese cuisines!
Pastrami Egg Rolls
Just because the holidays are over, doesn’t mean we can’t continue to create fun food. Here’s
a Jewish/Chinese twist on the American invented Egg Roll (That’s right! Eggrolls were not originally Chinese but created in US Chinese restaurant!) A great marriage of deli pastrami, tangy sauerkraut and either spicy or sweet dipping sauce. Great as an appetizer, a first course or a wonderful part of a buffet. I’m making it for a synagogue food fest, part of many people contributing to this annual effort, which becomes a delicious evening!
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Pastrami Egg Rolls
Yield: 12
Store-bought egg rolls wrappers (you can find in the produce section of many major supermarkets)
6 ounces sliced pastrami, sliced into very thin slices
1 cup prepared sauerkraut, drained
1 egg beaten for sealing
Vegetable oil, for frying
For dipping
Prepared sweet and sour sauce or duck sauce
Spicy or brown mustard
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Hold wrapper with point towards you. Place 1 tablespoon pastrami and 1 tablespoon sauerkraut on top of the egg roll wrapper near the point facing you.
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Roll corner closest to you over the filling. Press down on either side of the filling to flatten the wrapper.
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Fold the right and left sides of wrapper in. Look at photo to see how. Brush the egg on the top point. Continue rolling tightly into a cigar shape until completely sealed. Press edges to make sure all are sealed.
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Place sealed side down on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper.
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Heat vegetable oil in a skillet over medium-high heat.
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When oil has heated, fry each egg roll for 2-3 minutes on each side or until crisp and golden. Shake pan to keep egg rolls from sticking. Fry a few egg rolls at a time.
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Drain on paper towels. Serve immediately with dipping sauce.
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Refrigerate for up to 3 days. To freeze, wrap each egg roll in plastic wrap. Freeze for up to 3 months. To reheat either the refrigerated or frozen eggrolls, reheat at 350F (175C) until crispy.
Expandthetable suggestions:
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Vegetarian filling option: 5-6 shitake or other mushrooms, thinly sliced, 2 cups shredded vegetables such as cabbage, matchstick carrots and broccoli slaw, 3 green onions sliced lengthwise into matchsticks. Stir fry with minced garlic and ginger, sesame oil until vegetables soft. Follow the rest of the recipe.
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Vegan: 1/4 cup water and 1 teaspoon cornstarch mixed for a slurry in place of egg.
Adapted from Sharon Sarna. My Jewish Learning.
Bring the hostages home.
Foodie Lit
How people survive adversity and triumph despite the meanness of their lives moves our emotions. Without sentimentality, Catherine has given us that inspiration. She shared, “At a time when our media, our popular culture, and our literature seem to dwell so heavily on the negative aspects of human nature, I wanted the novel to focus—in an uplifting but down-to-earth and non-sentimentalized way—on the triumph of kindness and generosity over mean-spiritedness and the selfish pursuit of self-interest. I’d intended the stories to be sort of an antidote to the pervasive ‘gloom and doom’ with which we were being bombarded with daily.”
Catherine deftly creates her characters, realistic in their goodness and their heartlessness. She told me, “I live the lives I write about.” Hallie Jo is a life worth reading about, an inspiration for our new year.
