Egg Rolls: Low Carb, Lots of flavor

One of America's favorite things to eat is Chinese takeout. If you've never experienced waiting over an hour to pickup your call-in order from a tiny space in a strip center and receiving a brown bag full of yummy food with a paper menu stapled to the bag, you are missing out. And let's not forget its the quintessential take-out choice for television shows when staff are working late. You know I'm right. Those New York based television shows love to display generic takeout containers and chop sticks. Just seeing those containers makes me crave it. Sadly, our restaurants don't use the cute paper containers anymore. Does yours?

We ate so much Chinese food from these restaurants growing up and it is honestly something I miss as a diabetic. I'm not saying I don't have it on occasion, because I definitely do, it is about moderation after all, right? That damn overused, de-sensitive word. I do choose to stay away from it though. Besides the carb content, over time, MSG started to cause headaches for me and from what I've read, a lot of people. I'm not going to be the MSG police here, if you want it, eat it, because it makes food taste so damn good!

The most important issue for me is the amount of sugar and starch in the typical Chinese takeout meal. I remember the moment I found out how much sugar was used in one order of sesame chicken. I often watched the employees cooking while waiting on our orders. To this day I envy their wok skill magic. I wasn't sure what he was making at first, but saw him scoop a white substance with one of those plastic soup containers. Those containers are one pint; 16 ounces of liquid when full, and it definitely was full. I was mesmerized as he did a high pour into the wok and started tossing the golden brown fried chicken pieces. It melted and caramelized into sticky, glorious chunks that were poured into a container with a side of broccoli that, let's face it, no one ate and a what seemed like an entire bag of rice, and topped with crunchy sesame seeds. My hypnotization was released when it was put in MY take-out bag. Oh my word, all of that sugar was one order of chicken. ONE!

Beyond the hidden (or not so hidden sugars) in sauces, most of the chicken is breaded. A lot of restaurants use cornstarch as a meat tenderizer too. My favorite order growing up was chicken chow mein, something I shared with my mother. I can't find it often anymore, but it was chicken breast slices with onions, Napa cabbage, and celery in a white sauce with white rice on the side. It was super simple and super tasty. Over the last several years, I began deep diving into Chinese takeout restaurants to see what I could avoid. My two favorite things were loaded with cornstarch: chow mein and egg drop soup, so I started ordering without the cornstarch. It wasn't the same, but it was acceptable for me and for the convenience of it. In asking questions, I also found out they added sugar to this simple white sauce, about 2 tbsps. What????!!! Why???!!! I remember asking if I could get it without and they said yes, but it will be extremely salty from the MSG. Stubbornly, I ordered it. Boy was that a mistake. I still get quivers and nauseated thinking about how badly it tasted. It went straight into the trash.

At this point that simple chicken and veggie dish has: cornstarch on the chicken, cornstarch in the sauce, sugar in the sauce, and a ton of MSG in the sauce. Plus, served with enough sticky white rice to feed a family of four. I don't know the exact recipe so it could have more that I don't know about. Truth: Maybe its a good thing I can't find it anymore.

In my opinion, the best part of any meal is the appetizers. It feels like its a special meal when you have them. Just a little something to start off with. If you are like me, I often make meals out of appetizers. I've gone to lunch with friends that laugh because I order two apps as my meal. The appetizer section has to have innovative and fun things to entice diners to splurge. I can make a steak, fish, pasta etc. at home, but those appetizers suck me in. One of my favorites is the crunch egg roll. Who doesn't love an egg roll?! Admittedly, I am an egg roll snob. I grew up eating super crunchy ones with pork and shrimp, that the cabbage was basically raw, so it was still crunchy. Each egg roll was stuffed full of goodies and required 1.5 duck sauce packets for me. I will add, even though you probably know, Chinese take-out restaurants are very different. I had the best egg rolls from various restaurants in the area I grew up in. When I moved an hour away, the takeout places that were named the same, did not taste the same. When I first moved to Lake Norman, I was on a quest to find a the best egg roll. It never happened. Why do the egg rolls up here not have any filling? Some use spring roll wrappers instead of egg rolls wrappers, but still, no filling. I cannot be alone in this filling-less sadness. I digress.

Here we are. I'm managing my diabetes through diet: a low carb lifestyle. It has its highs and lows, but I make do. There are tons of recipes for egg roll in a bowl, its something we low-carb-ers eat and get tired of eating, we go in phases, but no crunchy wrapper for us. Well, at least until now.

These low carb, gluten free egg rolls wouldn't be complete without a no-sugar added duck sauce, right? No worries, I have that for you too!

Egg Roll in a Bowl

1 cup cooked Duck

14 oz. bag of coleslaw mix

1 bunch chopped green onions

2 tbsp. minced garlic

1.5 tbsp. minced Ginger

1 tbsp. minced lemongrass

1 tsp chili pepper

3 tbsp. Coconut aminos or soy sauce

Avocado oil and/or sesame oil

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp white pepper

Start by spreading your coleslaw mix on paper towels and sprinkle with salt. Set aside for 15 minutes. This will take draw some of the water out, helping your stir-fry stay crunchy not soggy.

Prep is important for the perfect stir fry. Be sure to have all of your ingredients measured and ready to pour in the pan. I love my wok, but you can use a frying pan. The key to wok cooking is hot pan, cold oil.

Chop leftover duck (protein) and green onions. Use paper towel to dab off excess water from coleslaw mix.

Heat pan until you see wisps of smoke, add roughly a tbsp. of avocado and/or sesame oil, then immediately add garlic, ginger, lemongrass, and green onions. Stir until fragrant (30 secs to 1 minute). Add proteins and stir. Add coleslaw and stir fry on high heat for a minute or two. Just until the texture is where you want it to be. I like mine crunchy. Remove from heat, add coconut aminos and toss. Taste!!! Adjust seasonings as desired.

Egg Rolls

Egg Roll in a bowl recipe

1 Package Egg Life Wraps

1 Raw egg scrambled in bowl

toothpicks (optional)

Scoop and wrap filling into wraps. Wrap tightly. Use brush to spread egg wash around the edges of wrap creating a seal. Use toothpicks to secure the seal if you desire. You can roll them like a traditional egg roll or fold in half.

Freeze for 30 min to 1 hour to help set

Shallow pan fry until just starting to brown on medium high heat, flip an repeat. Wraps will crisp as they cool on paper towel.

Air fryer: spray with avocado oil on both sides and place in air fryer. 350° for 9 minutes

In a hurry? Want a quick weeknight meal without the freezing time? Cut your Egg Life Wraps into pieces, pan fry or air fry and sprinkle with 5 Spice Powder. Use for scooping egg roll in a bowl mixture

Let's talk about this duck sauce for a second. Amazing.

That concludes my one second talk.

Duck Sauce (No sugar added)

1/2 jar Apricot Mimosa SF preserves

1-2 tsp rice wine vinegar

1 tsp chili pepper paste

1-2 tsp of water

Mix. Add water to make the consistency you want. Taste. Fruit and pepper flavors can vary from batch to batch of ANYTHING on the market. It is important to taste each batch and decide if it needs more heat, acid, sweetness. Add only a small amount at a time because you cannot take it out.

Big Life Breakdown: When cooking at home, you get to do what you want to do. Here is the best part about my recipes: if you don't like it, don't add it. If you don't have that ingredient, then substitute.

Use any protein you'd like, or none at all. I've had egg rolls with chopped pork, sausage, ground beef, shrimp, chicken, as well as this duck recipe. I like to make use of leftover proteins in my egg rolls.

As I've said many times before, tasting as you are going is the best way to ensure your meal is going to taste just like you want it to.

Please note: While there aren't any links on this recipe at this time, I do include links to Amazon for products. I make a small amount from Amazon only to help fund this site. All of my reviews are real and products I paid for personally.