good egg rolls-extinct

[elfin]

Over the years it seems that I just can not find a decent chinese egg roll anywhere. In Chicago, we have most of the Chinese cuisines covered and have a decent Chinatown. But the egg rolls of my childhood-crammed with good sized pieces of pork, shrimp, green onion and other goodies are MIA. Now all I get is a greasy wrapped tube filled only with cabbage, a few bean sprouts and shredded carrots and onions. Maybe my past memory is not acurate or my youthful palate was not discerning to know any better but my complaint seems to be shared by many of my friends. I am not complaining about Vietnamese or Thai spring rolls which are delicious. I know egg rolls are a means to use kitchen scraps to small for the wok but can the kitchen add more than just cabbage and carrots?

[Gifted Gourmet]

Now all I  get is a greasy wrapped  tube filled only with cabbage, a few bean sprouts and  shredded carrots and onions. 

Cost effectiveness ....

Actually, in all honesty, egg rolls are not what they once were ... but then the prices have increased exponentially and the ingredients are decreasing, in both quality and variety, as well as size ... sign 'o ' the times ...

[foodie52]

I agree : all you get is a greasy tube with very little inside.

I seem to remember them being larger in diameter when I was a kid. More filling. We actually used to have a great eggroll stand here in Austin, on campus. The eggrolls were two for a dollar. They were greasy, but huge, with lots of filling.

The stand got shut down a couple years ago because the owners were supplementing their income by burglaring the campus area....

Waste of a good eggroll source...

[Jinmyo]

Egg roll wrappers are cheap.

Use thine own scraps and be thee joyous in ye results.

[Katherine]

You can buy these exact same inferior, greasy, disgusting egg rolls frozen in your grocer's freezer case. Why, if you really like them, you can get them by the case from Sysco. Er, so can your local Chi-am slop house, too.

[ingridsf]

I ordered in from an otherwise stellar Chinese restaurant here in San Francisco this weekend and I had exactly the same thought as I scanned the menu. Their eggrolls SUCK. I had the same question -- was my youthful love of them akin to my love of Durkee french-fried onions? (Ok, I still like those but as a topping, not a main dish.)

It seems there are Ages of Rolls. I was a child during the Eggroll Age, a young adult during the Springroll Age, and am enjoying in my middle years the Imperial Roll Age. What will be next? I predict the Time of Lumpia.

For every roll, there is a season. So say I.

[Gifted Gourmet]

I ordered in from an otherwise stellar Chinese restaurant here in San Francisco this weekend and I had exactly the same thought as I scanned the menu. Their eggrolls SUCK. .

Suckorific egg rolls in San Francisco?? Say it ain't so, ingrid!!

[Pickles]

Now all I get is a greasy wrapped tube filled only with cabbage, a few bean sprouts and shredded carrots and onions.

I know...I know. They used to be brim full of roasted pork..or shrimp. The other ingredients were just filler. Now when I order them, I belch like a bandit. It's not worth the gas and nasty oily repeat-taste in my mouth.

[whosrbud]

jinmyo,

"Egg roll wrappers are cheap."

not that i would ever doubt the veracity of any of your superb contributions but i'm

having suprising difficulty in locating good old egg roll wrappers in any of the seven

oriental food stores in this area. they have oodles of spring roll wrappers in various sizes...

and small 2"round wrappers to make shu mei. when i inquire about egg roll

wrappers, the proprietor invariably points to the spring roll wrappers which i know

are not the same thickness nor are they made from the same ingredients.

are the 6" x 6" or 8" x 8" wrappers difficult to make? and/or is there something

to ask for specifically? there is simply no reason i can think of that we have to

limit ourselves to the horrible excuses which pass as egg rolls these days.

your expertise would be most welcome-

many thanks,

michael

[Jason Perlow]

The best egg rolls in the entire NYC metro area can be found at King Yum restaurant in Fresh Meadows, Queens, on Union Turnpike next to the Hillcrest Jewish Center. It is the oldest operating Chinese restaurant in NYC, opened in 1953.

They contain ample amounts of chinese roast pork as well as shrimp, and even the cabbage in it is laced with the flavor of pork fat. They are amazing, and are a throwback to the polynesian pu-pu parlors of the 1950's and 1960's, as is most of the cuisine there and the decor (it features a Tiki bar, complete with fru fru polynesian fancy drinks, and decorations that look like it came out of a Fijiian or Tongan pavilion in Disneyland or Epcot). I highly recommend it, kitsch and all. The food at this place is American Chinese at its finest. Its eggrolls, egg foo young, shrimp and lobster sauce, wonton soup, spare ribs -- all the dinosaur standbys -- are reproduced exactly the way they were when the restaurant first opened. I am also convinced that some of these dinosaur dishes were likely INVENTED at this restaurant, as is this entire style of chinese food. Trader Vic Bergeron may have invented the drinks and the polynesian kitch, but not the cuisine.

http://www.queenstribune.com/archives/dini...ews/kingyum.htm

http://www.queenscourier.com/dining/1998/kingyum.htm (1998)

Aright, now I guess I need to take a picture of this place and its eggrolls so people beleive me.

[slowday]

I know egg rolls are a means to use kitchen scraps to small for the wok but can the kitchen add more than just cabbage and carrots?

Our local favorite chinese restaurant also adds two incredibly tiny shrimp. Its sort of a game to find them in the shredded cabbage.

slowday

[Gifted Gourmet]

The best egg rolls in the entire NYC metro area can be found at King Yum restaurant in Fresh Meadows, Queens, on Union Turnpike next to the Hillcrest Jewish Center. It is the oldest operating Chinese restaurant in NYC, opened in 1953.

They contain ample amounts of chinese roast pork as well as shrimp, and even the cabbage in it is laced with the flavor of pork fat.

And that fact alone acts as a motivation for the seniors at the Hillcrest Jewish Center to sing along with each other "Staying Alive"? Or do they simply content themselves with "take out" on Sunday evenings?

I, personally, would sign up to move in there (HJC), based entirely on this cuisine, when I am of a sufficient age ....

[Jason Perlow]

The best egg rolls in the entire NYC metro area can be found at King Yum restaurant in Fresh Meadows, Queens, on Union Turnpike next to the Hillcrest Jewish Center. It is the oldest operating Chinese restaurant in NYC, opened in 1953.

They contain ample amounts of chinese roast pork as well as shrimp, and even the cabbage in it is laced with the flavor of pork fat.

And that fact alone acts as a motivation for the seniors at the Hillcrest Jewish Center to sing along with each other "Staying Alive"? Or do they simply content themselves with "take out" on Sunday evenings?

I, personally, would sign up to move in there (HJC), based entirely on this cuisine, when I am of a sufficient age ....

Its not a nursing home. Its a Synagogue.

And yes, I've even seen the rabbis eat there.

[Gifted Gourmet]

The best egg rolls in the entire NYC metro area can be found at King Yum restaurant in Fresh Meadows, Queens, on Union Turnpike next to the Hillcrest Jewish Center. It is the oldest operating Chinese restaurant in NYC, opened in 1953.

They contain ample amounts of chinese roast pork as well as shrimp, and even the cabbage in it is laced with the flavor of pork fat.

And that fact alone acts as a motivation for the seniors at the Hillcrest Jewish Center to sing along with each other "Staying Alive"? Or do they simply content themselves with "take out" on Sunday evenings?

I, personally, would sign up to move in there (HJC), based entirely on this cuisine, when I am of a sufficient age ....

Its not a nursing home. Its a Synagogue.

And yes, I've even seen the rabbis eat there.

Well, that clinches the deal!! Putting a down payment on a room tomorrow morning .. move in by Tisha b'Av!!

[chefwoody]

I would bet the farm on the Egg Rolls from River Qwae (elfin: A friend got me hip to this place while I was living in Chicago). They are among the best things I have ever eaten. They have an AMAZING Pad Thai, also.

The place is open from 11pm to 6AM, and be prepared to wait, as there are only 5 or 6 tables.

[Gifted Gourmet]

I would bet the farm on the Egg Rolls from River Qwae (elfin: A friend got me hip to this place while I was living in Chicago). They are among the best things I have ever eaten. They have an AMAZING Pad Thai, also.

Maybe you'll give us the street address of this charming establishment??

[HKDave]

... i'm having suprising difficulty in locating good old egg roll wrappers in any of the seven oriental food stores in this area. they have oodles of spring roll wrappers in various sizes...

and small 2"round wrappers to make shu mei. when i inquire about egg roll wrappers, the proprietor invariably points to the spring roll wrappers which i know are not the same thickness nor are they made from the same ingredients.

are the 6" x 6" or 8" x 8" wrappers difficult to make? and/or is there something to ask for specifically?

The ones in the freezer section are usually 'spring roll' wrappers - thinner, sans egg (not to be confused with Vietnamese spring roll wrappers which are just rice paper and are sold dry) .

Egg roll wrappers (thicker, made w/egg) are usually not frozen, at least I haven't seen them that way. They may be in sealed bags in the fridge section or more likely you need to find a shop that sells fresh Chinese egg noodles (mein) who will probably also sell egg roll wrappers fresh.

If none of that works where you live, they are not hard to make. Some wrapper recipes with and w/o egg can be found here.

[elfin]

Looked on Metromix.com and the place has been written up twice with favorable reviews. River Kwai Seafood II is located at 1650 W. Belmont. (773) 472-1013

[Dryden]

For those looking in Manhattan, my wife (who happens to be Chinese, so I speak with authority, or something like that) and I (who happens to be Jewish, so I speak with even more authority) have always had great eggrolls at, of all places, Ollie's on Broadway between 67th and 68th.

I can't even begin to explain how this is, but pork, shrimp - it's all in there. And just the right amount of grease to soak your napkin, too.

[Bicycle Lee]

the best egg rolls I have ever had are at this Vietnamese restaurant here in SLC called Mi La Cai Noodle House...man are they good...

But I agree...egg rolls at chinese joints are typically pretty wack....make that egg rolls in general. At least you can find better ones than the Costco type...

to clarify: the rolls at the Vietnamese place are fried, not the fresh wrap ones.

Edited June 2, 2004 by Bicycle Lee (log)

[chefwoody]

elfin,

Thanks for the spelling correct. I haven't been there in a while and couldn't remember how they spell it.

There are few restaurants that I highly recommend people visit, but this is one of them. You won't be disappointed...

And if you are, then you are from Mars.

On top of that, it's pretty cheap and you will most certainly go home with food (the plates are enormous and piled high).

Don't forget to get the Pad Thai to go with your egg rolls (Can I give you my address so you can FedEx me a couple?

[Yuki]

What exactly is egg roll? Is it something like a spring roll but wrapped with thin egg crepe? Which region of China is egg roll from?

[Susan in FL]

We agree with Jinmyo, and make them ourselves. It's been a while, but as a guide we actually use the recipe from our old Joy of Cooking.

[Rachel Perlow]

What exactly is egg roll? Is it something like a spring roll but wrapped with thin egg crepe?

Um, it's pretty much the opposite of that description. It's about 3-4 times the size of a spring roll, filled with cabbage, roast pork, chopped or small shrimp, etc. It is actually called an egg roll because after you assemble the roll, you dip or wash the entire thing with egg right before frying, it adds a bubbly crunchiness to the finished roll.

If you search images.google for egg roll the very first picture they show is pretty good, but I can't seem to load the actual url page for that picture to link. The second picture looks more like a spring roll to me.

Hmm, you get different results if you search for eggroll (without the space). Check out this link. There's even a recipe (scroll down). If someone tries it, let us know how it is.

[herbacidal]

What exactly is egg roll? Is it something like a spring roll but wrapped with thin egg crepe?

Um, it's pretty much the opposite of that description. It's about 3-4 times the size of a spring roll, filled with cabbage, roast pork, chopped or small shrimp, etc. It is actually called an egg roll because after you assemble the roll, you dip or wash the entire thing with egg right before frying, it adds a bubbly crunchiness to the finished roll.

That must be a new development, sometime in the last 8-10 years.

Back in the day, the whole roll wasn't dipped in egg.

Egg was only used to seal the roll.

In my experience, a different wrapping (thicker) is used for egg rolls than spring rolls.

It's a square, flat piece of dough, and the corner is cut off to be used for fried noodles (the kind that come to the table with duck sauce and mustard for picking on).

Course, I haven't made or seen an egg roll made in about 8-10 years.