These gluten-free egg rolls are irresistibly crispy and packed with a savory filling of ginger and garlic, making them a delicious twist on a classic American-Chinese appetizer
In a small bowl, combine your soy sauce, sesame oil, sugar, cornstarch, and salt and give it whisk. Set it aside for later.
To a large pan, add in your ground pork on medium heat and brown it until completely cooked, breaking it up as you go. Add your garlic and ginger and cook for an additional minute until aromatic.
Add in your green onions, carrots, coleslaw mix, and sauce and allow it to cook, stirring frequently for 2-3 minutes, just until the veggies begin to soften. If you cook them for too long, you’ll lose all of the beautiful color.
Remove from the heat and let cool down to room temp while you make your wrappers.
To make your wrappers, begin by cracking and whisking an egg in a small bowl and set it aside for later.
Combine in a medium bowl your gluten free flour, cornstarch, and salt. Give that a mix then add in your eggs and ⅛ cup of your water, reserving the last 2 tablespoons of water to add as you need it. You will likely need the last 2 tablespoons, but better to add more later than too much in the beginning!
Begin mixing with your hands, kneading in the bowl until the dough comes together. It will look shaggy before it starts to come together as a dough. You should be able to compress the shaggy dough in your fist and have it hold together. If it does not, add a bit more of your water.
On a clean surface, remove your dough from the bowl and begin kneading. The dough should be slightly sticky and tacky, but should not stick to your hands or surface while kneading. If it’s too dry, add a bit more of your water. As you knead it, it will become smoother.
Keep kneading until the dough is smooth, about 3 minutes, then wrap tightly in plastic wrap and let sit and rest for 30 minutes.
After 30 minutes, remove your dough from the plastic and divide into 2 pieces. While working with one of the pieces, leave the other wrapped so as to keep it from drying out.
Lightly dust your surface with cornstarch and use a rolling pin to roll the dough flat and as rectangular as possible, adding more cornstarch as needed and turning and flipping as you go in order to keep it from sticking.The dough will have a tendency to tear given that it’s gluten free, so do this carefully. If at any time the dough seems sticky, add more cornstarch to your surface, rolling pin, or directly onto the surface of the dough.
Roll the dough out thinly but not so thinly that you can see through it. Cut the dough into as many 4 inch squares as you can. These don’t have to be perfect squares since we will re-roll them. Lightly dust your squares with more cornstarch to keep them from sticking, stack them, cover them with a damp paper towel, and set them aside.
Apply more cornstarch to your working surface area and work with one square at a time, placing it onto your work surface and rolling it flat until it’s about 5-6 inches. You should be able to see your hand through the dough. Make sure you don’t roll it so thin that you can’t work with it without it ripping. This might take some practice.
Trim the edges of your square until the sides are uniform and turn it diagonally, so one of the corners is pointed towards you. Take a tablespoon of your meat mixture and place it just slightly lower than the center of the wrapper and shape it into a log.
Using some of your egg wash, wet the exposed wrapper then carefully use your hands to peel up the corner closest to you and wrap it over the meat filling. Wet the wrapper that you just folded up, then use the two corners to the sides and fold those inward before rolling the entire thing closed, being careful not to pull too tight and rip the dough. Repeat this process until all of your egg rolls are wrapped and ready. Until you’re ready to fry, keep your rolled egg rolls under a damp paper towel to keep them from drying out.
To a medium or large pot, heat to 350°F (175°C) enough frying oil to submerge the egg rolls. Once hot, drop in your egg rolls away from you and allow them to fry for 5-6 minutes, flipping often to evenly cook, until they are lightly brown. Be careful not to overcrowd your pot as that can lead to the oil temperature dropping too suddenly and the egg rolls not cooking evenly.
Remove done egg rolls onto a baking rack to drain and cool before serving with your favorite dipping sauces.
Notes
You can certainly make the meat filling ahead of time and store it in the fridge until you are ready to use it; just let it come to room temperature before filling your egg rolls. I would not, however, recommend making the wrappers ahead of time, as they dry out too easily.
Drain any excess moisture from the filling to avoid soggy egg rolls. This helps keep the rolls crisp during frying.
Keep the oil at a steady 350-375°F (175-190°C). Too low, and the rolls will be greasy; too high, and they may burn. Use a thermometer for precision.
After frying, place egg rolls on a wire rack instead of paper towels to keep them crisp on all sides.
Store in the fridge for up to 5 days and reheat by baking or air frying them at 350°F for 6-8 minutes.