Nor-Cali Egg Rolls

I love egg rolls, and I love to soak them in soy sauce. Oh, it is to the point that it is a bit gross – but it’s what I do. I know, I know; soy sauce covers the flavor of the egg roll… but I still do it, every time.

 
However, these are not your normal egg rolls.

Soy sauce did not come near these egg rolls; in fact it never crossed my mind to pull it out. These are surprisingly delicious and easy to make. I was completely intimidated to make egg rolls, but they are a breeze. Just buy the egg roll wrappers from your grocer and follow the directions on the package to roll and cook. Serve to a group of people and watch them disappear off the plate, I promise. :)

Nor-Cali Egg Roll served with Spicy Ranch Dipping Sauce: add 1 tablespoon of Sriracha Sauce to
1/2 cup Ranch Dressing and refrigerate for a few hours before serving. Easy and Awesome!

Nor-Cali Roll Filling
Ingredients

• 2 cups chicken, diced
• 1 cup Pico de Gallo (I use Emeril’s Pico de Gallo recipe)
• ½ cup Monterey Jack cheese, diced
• ¼ cup cooked bacon, diced
• 1 large avocado, sliced
• 1 egg roll wrapper package (The package I got had 20. I didn’t realize how thin they were until I was 5 in, so I only made 15…)

Directions

1. Mix first 4 ingredients together
2. Prepare egg rolls as described on package, topping each pile of chicken mixture with a slice of avocado before rolling
3. Cook egg rolls as instructed on egg roll package
4. Enjoy with Spicy Ranch Dipping Sauce!

Kara-Áge Soy-Ginger Chicken
Through the Foodbuzz Tastemaker Program I received a box of Kikkoman’s Kara-Áge Soy-Ginger Seasoned Coating Mix. I had seen the mix on Kikkoman’s website and already wanted to try it, so I was stoked to receive a box to sample. Plus, it gave me a reason excuse to buy a couple of dipping sauces I had wanted to try…

You can use cubed chicken, squared fish fillets or shrimp with the Kara-Áge mix, I chose cubed chicken breasts. To coat the pieces of chicken in the mix I poured the mix into a large bag, added chicken and shook well. I do want to mention that the mix is very soft, almost the texture of flour, and has a very strong but savory scent. After the chicken was coated, I shook off any excess mix and dropped them in the deep fryer. Making sure to not overcrowd the fryer, each batch took about 4 minutes. The chicken came out golden brown, juicy and full of flavor – and each piece was perfectly coated.

I served my Kara-Áge Chicken with Jasmine Rice and Kikkoman’s Katsu Sauce. Just incredible, from how easy it was to make to how awesome it tasted. Kikkoman states on their website that “Kara-Áge makes the perfect fried chicken every time... Japanese style”, I believe it and I can’t wait to try the mix with shrimp and fish next!