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Friday, April 3, 2009

Ingredient Wars: Fried Fish Egg Rolls with Asian Style Ricotta Dipping Sauce

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Ingredient Wars!  This time around, again, was a very fun challenge for me. I went back and forth for a while about what to make (which is why I’d never cut it as a challenger on the actual show, Chopped.) and finally decided on egg rolls.

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Making egg rolls used to scare the heck out of me, but thanks to my good friend Canarygirl, who walked me through it a few years back, I realized it wasn’t hard at all. A little time consuming, maybe, but still—pretty easy.

The ingredients this time around were :

1. Cod Fillets (or some other white fish)

2. 1 orange

3. Ricotta Cheese

4. Egg Roll Wrappers

5. Ritz Crackers (or another butter cracker)

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I decided I’d pan fry the fish, after dipping it in egg white and the Ritz crumbs. Than adding things from the pantry and fridge, I’d make an egg roll filling to put inside the egg roll wrappers. The ricotta cheese became an Asian Style dipping sauce for the egg rolls.

The Ingredient Wars Judge, aka my husband, asked if we could make a few open-faced egg rolls. Sure, why not? So a few egg roll wrappers were just tossed into the hot oil—man are those delicious as is! But we held back some of the filling to just scoop over the top of the flat fried egg roll wrappers, and you know? That turned out to be my favorite of the two. Who knew? The filling hadn’t been heated up, so it was like a cool, crunchy salad on top. Good stuff!

Recipes:

To print these recipes, click here!

Fried Fish Egg Rolls with Asian Style Ricotta Dipping Sauce

Fish:

1 pound cod, or other white fish
4 egg whites, beaten
1 1/2 sleeves Ritz crackers, crushed into crumbs

Egg Roll Filling:

5-6 green onions, chopped
1 head Napa Cabbage, thinly sliced
6 oz bag matchstick carrots
2 tsp fresh ginger, grated
3 minced garlic cloves
1/3 cup soy sauce
13 cup rice vinegar
2 TBSP brown sugar
2 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp or so of orange zest
fresh cracked black pepper
the cooked fish from earlier, flaked
1 package egg roll wrappers
oil for frying

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Asian Style Ricotta Dipping Sauce

7 oz ricotta cheese
juice of half an orange
1 tsp or so of orange zest

1 TBSP cilantro, minced
1 TBSP soy sauce
a few drops of sesame oil
3 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1/8 tsp ground ginger

Prepare the fish:

Dip fish in egg whites, then in Ritz crumbs.
Heat a bit of oil in a pan, cook fish for 3-5 minutes per side, or until done.
Set aside to cool.

Prepare the sauce:

Mix all of the sauce ingredients in a bowl, set side in the fridge.

Prepare the egg rolls:

In a large bowl, mix all of the filling ingredients, except the wrappers. Season to taste.
Fill each wrapper with 1/3 cup of filling in the center. Wet edges of the wrapper, and roll up
egg roll style, sealing the edges well.
Heat oil to at least 350°, and fry about 4 egg rolls at a time--3-4 minutes on one side, and 3 minutes on second

side.
Let the oil come back to temp between each batch--this is extremely important so the hot oil sears the egg roll,
and oil doesn't seep inside.
Remove to a rack placed over paper towels to drain.
Serve with dipping sauce.

For an open faced egg roll, fry an unrolled wrapper till golden brown on each side, then drain on the same rack over paper towels.

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i hope any of you that decided to participate are having fun with the ingredients! Stay tuned for the next Ingredient Wars. I hear from “The Judge” that something sweet may be on the horizon.

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Check out what Caleb did with the ingredients this time around! Looks fantastic, doesn’t it?

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21 comments:

LizNoVeggieGirl said...

GREAT creation!!

Jeff said...

Making egg rolls still causes me frustration, blood pressure points, and a few drinks to numb my liver.

Looks awesome and love the open face idea!

Elle said...

Thank you, Liz!

Jeff, the open faced ones are super easy, as long as you cook anything in the filling you wouldn't want to eat raw.

Allen of EOL said...

Look great -- I love eggrolls that are good and crispy. Yours look perfect! The wrappers are also good if you slice them into strips and fry, then toss in cinnamon-sugar. ;-)

Katie @ goodLife {eats} said...

Awesome creativity! That looks delish!

Elle said...

Allen--that's a great idea! I think you may have created a monster with this bit of information.

Thanks, Katie!

Anonymous said...

What a great way to utilize those ingredients. The ricotta dipping sauce is genius!

Elle said...

Thanks, OPC!

April was in CA now MA said...

My mouth is watering now and I seriously want several of these! I've always wanted to make egg rolls, but if I'm successful we may end up eating WAY too many of them. I love the idea of fish in these.

Sharon said...

What a fun & tasty creation! I never would have thought to use fish in egg rolls.

Joie de vivre said...

Wow, I bet these were really interesting with the cod!

grace said...

so you're saying there's nothing to be afraid of when it comes to making egg rolls? i don't know, elle, super hot oil is pretty intimidating. that said, a few little burns might be worth a few little bites of these. :)

Unknown said...

I just love the open face egg rolls! Very creative.

Emily
justeatfood.com

Annie said...

The egg rolls look super yummy!!!!

Judy@nofearentertaining said...

Great job on the ingredient wars!!! You outdid yourself this week!

catherine @ www.unconfidentialcook.com said...

I love seeing what you do with the ingredients--this is great!

hungryandfrozen said...

Aw, I haven't been round here in way too long. Your blog is looking as sassy as ever! Love the look of these egg rolls, they're making me want something crispy and fried now...

Mrs Ergül said...

wow Elle! Look at what you did with this challenge! Wonderful food!

Caleb said...

Ok, so it did take me a while, but I was finally able to make the dish I wanted to for this challenge on Friday. Here it is. :D

Thanks for starting this Elle.

Spryte said...

Creative!

Nick said...

So cool! I would be very interested in doing one of these!

Chopped is my new favorite show on TFN.

Keep posting ingredient wars please.... ;)

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