Maylee at Beyond Gumbo 
Sometimes even the best plans can go haywire. I have been looking forward to preparing a new Cajun -Oriental fusion appetizer, “Cajun Crawfish Egg Rolls,” this spring. However, Louisiana crawfish are in short supply due to the severe drought which we experienced last summer. There just aren’t many crawfish for sale in our local markets and they are mighty pricey when you can fine some. I have always loved making homemade oriental-style egg rolls and have tweeked my recipe over the years. I am quite proud of it. It is easy to substitute in crawfish, Cajun spices and fresh vegetable seasonings to make a knock-out Cajun appetizer version. Just as I was ready to give up on cooking crawfish dishes this year; some reasonably priced peeled crawfish tails showed up in a grocery store “special.” Today, I made my version of “Cajun Crawfish Egg Rolls” and served it along with my “Fruity Sweet and Sour Sauce.” Or course, you can always use small salad shrimp if peeled crawfish tails are not available.
Crazy about Egg Rolls
My Egg Roll recipe is uniquely my own creation. Years ago, there weren’t many Chinese restaruants in our part of the world here in South Louisiana. And certainly convenience, frozen egg rolls weren’t available for sale in grocery stores. I love Chinese cuisine (my name is a Chinese one–that is another story) and so I resorted to making my own egg rolls. There was a period of time when I became an egg roll fanatic and probably made these very week. My recipe used ground pork along with cabbage, slivered carrots, onions, soy sauce and bean spouts. These ingredients were cooked together and then chilled. The egg roll wrappers were filled and fried. I served the egg rolls with Creole Mustard (a hot, course brown mustard) and a tangy, fruity sweet and sour sauce. The sauce is my own creation, too.
Don’t Skip the Bean Sprouts
The bean sprouts are my own addition. They give the egg roll filling a crunch and serve as a binding agent. Plus, they are mild in flavor and let the other ingredients shine. Don’t leave the bean sprouts out.
Adapting the Recipe to use Crawfish
It is easy to adapt my recipe to make a Cajun-Oriental fusion egg roll. Rather than using soy sauce, sugar and rice vinegar for oriental flavors, I substituted in Tony’s Chachere’s Creole Seasoning to give a “spicy” Cajun flavor to the egg rolls. And I added plenty of the Cajun “Holy Trinity” of seasonings — onions, celery and bell peppers. Ah, look, I am frying these egg rolls in peanut oil.
Making the Recipe
To make my Cajun-Oriental fusion egg rolls, I start out like a Cajun chef. That means chopping up the “Holy Trinity” of Cajun seasonings — onions, celery and bell peppers — until they are very fine. I use alot of these seasonings and in approximately equal parts. I got to try out my latest new food appliance gadget — a 3-in-1 immersion blender with a chopper attachment. Or, use a food processor. In any event, the seasoning should be very finely chopped.
Add these to a large heavy pot of Dutch oven along with the slivered carrots and let them cook down in oil until they are tender and wilted. This can easily take 10 minutes. I use medium heat for this process. Stir frequently and adjust the temperature so that the seasonings don’t burn.
Chop or sliver the cabbage finely and add to the pot. I used 4 cups of finely chopped cabbage for the egg roll filling saved the rest for coleslaw. After the cabbage cooks down, add in the bean spouts and cook for several more minutes.
Lastly, the peeled crawfish tails, Creole seasoning and green onions are added to the pot. These crawfish tails are raw — they are NOT cooked when they are purchased. So I sautéed them separately in a little oil for several minutes, (not more than 3 minutes), along with the spice and green onions to make sure that they were cooked. Then I added them to the pot along with the juices and cooked briefly to combine.
It is helpful to chill the mixture prior to filling so I often make the filling in the morning or even the prior day. A hot filling can easily cause the egg roll wrappers to rip and tear. Plus, chilling the mixture allows the flavors to meld together.
It is also important to drain off the juices before filling the egg roll wrappers. Any moisture on the wrapper will cause it to become soggy and tear.
Filling and Frying the Egg Rolls
Filling and frying the egg rolls is a process. It took about an hour to accomplish this. This is a large batch of filling and I used an entire one-pound package of egg roll wrappers which made 20 egg rolls. I found that it worked to fill a few egg roll wrappers at a time and fry them. If they set too long, the filled egg roll wrappers just became soggy and fell apart in the deep fat fryer. If you get carried away and mix up too many, hold them in a single layer in the refrigerator. Don’t stack up the uncooked egg rolls.
Here we go. Put a generous 1/3 cup of well-drained filling in the bottom third of a wrapper. Fold the wrapper up tightly over the filling. Make a paste of 2 Tbsp flour in 1/2 cup water and wipe all the edges of the egg roll wrapper. Fold in the two sides of the egg roll and roll up. The paste will seal the sides and the top edge.
For frying the egg rolls, I got out my trusty Fry Daddy deep fat fryer. Hum, I could only fry three egg rolls at a time which is somewhat annoying. Next time, perhaps I’ll just use my heavy cast iron skillet. I use peanut oil for frying the egg rolls. This oil has a neutral flavor and can easily accomodate the 350 degree temperature needed to fry the egg rolls. After the oil is heated, fry a few egg rolls at a time until they are golden brown for 3 to 5 minutes. Drain on paper towels. If any of the egg rolls wrappers develop a tear, use remaining wrappers to “patch” the slit before frying. Let the oil return to 350 degrees prior to frying another batch.
Fruity Sweet and Sour Dipping Sauce
These Egg Rolls are delicious, but any egg roll is even better when served with Creole Mustard (hot, brown and course mustard) and a “Fruity Sweet and Sour Dipping Sauce.” And, over the years, I have tweeked my own recipe for this sauce. It is so simple to make. I use the juice from a can of pineapple tidbits in the recipe. And I always keep frozen orange juice concentrate in the freeze for any recipe needing orange juice. To make the sauce, heat all the ingredients (except cornstarch and water) on the stove over low heat. Stir to blend and dissolve the sugar. Dissolve the cornstarch in water. Remove the pot from the stove and gradually stir in the corntarch. Return to stove, stir constantly. Cook until sauce bubbles and becomes thick and translucent. Dipping sauce is finished, so simple!
And so, we’re done. These “Cajun Crawfish Egg Rolls” are delicious. I hope you find some reasonably priced peeled crawfish tails (don’t purchase ones from China) and are able to make my recipe this spring. Enjoy!
Springtime in Louisiana
I love springtime in Louisiana. It seems like the landscape just bursts overnight with lush green colors of trees coming back to life and the vibrant colors of azealas and other flowering bushes.
As long as I can remember, there has been a bountiful crop of crawfish available each spring in Louisiana. Sitting and peeling whole crawfish in a restaurant, at home or at a crawfish boil is just a Louisiana ritual. But not this spring. The crawfish industry, unique to Louisiana, is hurting this year. Last summer’s dought and extremely high temperatures as well as other factors have make a slim crawfish crop this year. I can only hope that this is a single-year phenomenon and not a sign of the future climate change. It just shows how fragile our environment may be.
Over the years, I have featured several great ways to prepare Louisiana crawfish — in addition to boiling and peeling the whole crawfish. Let’s explore some of the great ways to prepare this unique Louisiana crop. See the “Crawfish” tab on the top menu bar for more of my crawfish recipes.
Cajun Crawfish Egg Rolls
Ingredients:
- 1 medium onion
- 1/2 bell pepper
- 2 stalks celery
- 4 Tbsp canola oil, divided
- 1 large or 2 small carrots, peeled and slivered
- 1/2 small head cabbage (4 cups shredded or finely chopped)
- 1 (14 oz) can bean sprouts, drained
- 1 lb (16 oz) peeled, defrosted crawfish tails
- 1 tsp Tony Chachere’s Creole Seasoning or other Creole seasoning
- 2 green onions, chopped (whites and green parts)
- 1/3 cup flour, more if needed
- 2/3 cup water, more if needed
- 20 (1 lb package) egg roll wrappers
- peanut oil for deep fat frying
- Creole Mustard or any hot brown, course mustard for serving
- Fruity Sweet and Sour Sauce for serving
Method and Steps:
- Prepare the vegetable seasonings: finely chop the onion, bell pepper and celery using a food processor, food chopper or by hand using a kitchen knife. This should yield 2 cups of vegetable seasonings.
- Heat 2 Tbsp canola oil in a large heavy pot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the chopped vegetable seasonings and slivered carrots to the pot. Cook, stirring frequently, over medium heat until the seasonings and carrots are soft and cooked through, about 10 minutes.
- Add shredded (or finely chopped) cabbage. Stir and cook, for an additional 5 minutes.
- Add the drained bean sprouts. Stir to combine and cook for 3 minutes.
- Meanwhile, in another heavy skillet, add 2 reamining Tbsp canola oil and heat over medium high heat. Add peeled crawfish tails, Creole seasoning and chopped green onions. Cook for 3 minutes until the crawfish is heated and cooked.
- Add the crawfish to the heavy pot with the cooked filling. Stir to combine completely and cook for an additional minute.
- Remove filling from heat and transfer to refrigerator-proof bowl. Cover and chill the filling for several hours.
- When ready to finish egg rolls, remove filling from refrigerator and drain off any remaining liquid.
- Combine flour with water and stir to make a paste.
- Get the “stations” ready: egg roll wrappers, filling, flour paste, deep fat fryer with cooking oil and plate with paper towels.
- Heat peanut oil in deep fat fry, cast iron skillet or heavy Dutch oven to 350 degrees.
- To fill wrappers, place one wrapper on a dish. Add a generous 1/3 cup filling to the bottom third of the wrapper. Tightly roll up the bottom of the wrapper over the filling. Next coat both the sides and the top of the wrapper with the flour paste. Fold in the sides. Roll up the wrapper. The top (coated with the flour paste) should seal. Place the egg roll on another plate in a single layer. Continue to filling several wrappers at a time.
- Fry the egg rolls, a few at a time, in the deep fat fryer for approx 3 minutes until the wrapper is golden brown. Turn the egg roll over half way through cooking. When finished, use a slotted spoon to transfer to paper towel -lined plate. Let the fryer return to 350 degrees before frying additional egg rolls.
- Continue to fill and fry egg rolls until all are completed. Avoid filling all the wrappers at once, a soggy wrapper will easily tear and rip apart and will disintegrate in the fryer. If a tear occurs, use a spare wrapper, moistened with the flour paste, to seal the tear.
- Serve the egg rolls with Creole Mustard and “Fruity Sweet and Sour Sauce.” (recipe follows)
Fruity Sweet and Sour Sauce
Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup pineapple juice (I use juice drained from 1 can of pineapple tidbits)
- 2 Tbsp frozen, orange juice concentrate
- 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
- 1/3 cup ketsup
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 2 tsp cornstarch
- 1/2 cup water
Method and Steps:
- Add pineapple juice, orange juice concentrate, apple cider vinegar, ketsup and brown sugar in a small saucepan. Heat over medium heat, stir frequently and cook until orange juice concentrate and brown sugar dissolves. Remove from stove.
- Mix cornstarch in water and stir until cornstarch dissolves. Slowly, stirring constantly, add to the sauce. Return to stove, stirring constantly, bring to a boil and cook until sauce thickents and becomes translucent.
- Pour into serving bowl.
Here’s Louisiana swamp in St. Charles Parish west of New Orleans (March 2024). Just get a pirogue (Cajun boat), some crawifsh bait (chicken necks), traps and let’s go, catch some crawfish.
Well, these just sound like a flavor explosion! Really appreciate all the helpful tips you have shared for the filling and rolling. I’ve only tried egg rolls once and made such a mess I swore off, but you’ve given me some confidence to try again. Pretty hard to get crawfish here in NC, but your tips will come in handy for just about any filling.
Hello, Yes, I am so disappointed that crawfish are in short supply this year — and hope there won’t be a repeat season like it. In the meantime, I also love pork, shrimp and chicken egg rolls with either oriental or Cajun seasonings. So, I’ll get my eggroll fix in some fashion. It did take a couple of attempts to get the frying process worked out.