Unwrapped Egg Roll Rice Bowls

Topped with an unctuous Egg, creamy Avocado these Unwrapped Egg Roll Rice Bowls are incredibly flavorful and satisfying.  

As most children do as they get old enough to comprehend the meaning of “gift” and “surprise”, the younger version of myself honed in on the tense, springing excitement of any type of “thing” that required unwrapping to reveal the treasure within.  Christmas stockings that included the orange in the toe, Easter baskets that were the result of a frenzied egg hunt, or the unclasping of my very first tiny violin.  Even when the magic of childhood shifted into the realm of adulting, the excitement of unwrapping a surprise never quite dissipated.  The small surprises like coloring books or shoes morphed into little things like a PB cup, or…shoes :D But one of the things that fascinated me, even as a child, were the types of foods that had “surprises” in them.  Dumplings, calzones, and a number of the fillings in different pies. 

Typically, (especially with pies) I much preferred the delicious little nuggets found inside of the wrapper.  It was most usually something insanely flavorful, and there never was enough of it.  Dumplings, wontons, spring rolls, egg rolls in particular were exceptionally flavorful, yet much to my chagrin, with something like an egg roll, which is fried, I could only eat a certain amount before my “full” buttons started going off.  Very similar to my instinct to just eat spaghetti sauce by itself, I longed to eat just the delicious “stuff” inside the egg roll.

The absolute best part of the egg roll (in my opinion) atop a fluffy bed of floral Jasmine rice.  A myriad of textures and tastes assault your senses with each mouthful.

But when the newest fad diets started rolling around, banning my beloved carbs or sugars, I pushed back a bit against the grain and ignored all the recipes popping out for “low carb this” and “no sugar that” for the very type of unwrapped egg rolls I was in search of.  Suddenly, it was incredibly trendy and I, being a contrary person, turned my nose up at it because I do not like to “jump on the bandwagon” just because everyone is doing it.  I wanted to have my egg roll filling, and eat it the way I wanted to.

In the skillet, this Unwrapped Egg Roll Rice Bowl is like Cinderella before her transformation.  

Thus, I came up with a version that has been on repeat, over and over.  I use ground turkey, a good bunch of veggies, and a good amount of Sriracha because there is something magical about Sriracha on an egg roll.  I choose to eat this incredibly savory little concoction over rice, because rice is the perfect, soft, fluffy little bed for the crisp vegetables and savory meat to sit upon.  Since the meat is cooked first with a bit of garlic and ginger, it is incredibly flavorful.  The veggies are perfectly crisp yet cooked down enough to change the flavor and texture from “crunch”similar  to “al dente”.  I top off the bowl with a poached egg (though you could do soft-boiled or fried if that is your preferred type of egg), creamy avocado slices, sesame seeds, scallions, and more Sriracha.  

Day one, two, three, or four, my husband willingly eats this and is genuinely excited each time.  It is delicious hot, cold, inside or out.  When reheating, the vegetables still retain their integrity.  I believe this is because I chop the cabbage by hand into wider strips than a coleslaw mix at the market.  The pieces end up being about 1/4 inch thick, and I also cut the carrots and red peppers into 1 inch matchstick pieces because they have better texture when cooked.  

The sweetness of the Rice Wine Vinegar is cut by the spice of the Sriracha, and all of it is tempered by the runny egg yolk.  Absolutely delicious.

The mix of textures and flavors from each element is magical when you take a bite.  The richness of a soft egg yolk is a total game changer, mixed with the fragrant Jasmine rice and the sweet, savory, and spicy turkey and vegetables.  The scallions add a bit of fresh pops of earthiness to counter the sweet acidity of the rice vinegar and ginger.  Cabbage completely transforms its flavor when cooked down a bit, and I prefer to let it cook till it’s pretty wilted down yet still retains some texture.  Because there are so many aromatics that are in this dish, its better the next day.  Do not get me wrong, its excellent the first day.  But day two (or three, or even four) yields this incredibly nuanced, balanced flavor since everything has had the time to really settle in and get acquainted with all the other ingredients.  If you are going to eat something on repeat, again and again, this is the one you want to because every bite is different, punched with flavor, and it comes together incredibly quickly and easily.  Not too surprising, as the inside of a gift is always the best part.

Exceptionally delicious, you will want to put this Unwrapped Egg Roll Rice Bowl on repeat in your meal rotation.  

Unwrapped Egg Roll Rice Bowls

Author:  Iris Anna Gohn

Servings:  6 to 8, depending on your rice to egg roll mixture ratios

This little dish comes together very quickly when you are in the actual cooking process, but the prep time *can* take a bit of time if you do not happen to have a food processor.  It takes me just about half an hour to cut, chop, and mince everything, and about 5 minutes to measure out the sauce ingredients.  After that, it takes maybe 20 minutes total to cook everything.

I do not recommend freezing this dish, as I do not think cabbage freezes particularly well.  Leftovers will keep up to 4 days, and are best stored in an airtight container in the fridge

Ingredients

For the Sauce:

• 1/4 Cup Low Sodium Soy Sauce
• 1/4 Cup Chicken Stock
• 1 Tbsp + 1 Tsp Light Brown Sugar
• 1 Tbsp + 1 Tsp Sriracha 
• 1 Tbsp + 1/4 Tsp Sesame Oil
• 1 Tbsp Rice Wine Vinegar
• 2 Tsp Cornstarch

For the Unwrapped Egg Roll Filling

• 1 Pound Ground Turkey (You may substitute Pork, Beef, or Chicken if you prefer)
• 7 Cups Roughly Chopped Cabbage (1 small head Cabbage)
• 1 3/4 Cups Matchstick Carrots, cut into 1 inch strips (2 Large Carrots)
• 2 Cups Matchstick Red Pepper pieces, cut into 1 inch strips (1 Large Red Pepper)
• 1 1/4 Cups Chopped Onion (1 medium Onion)
• 1/4 Cup Sliced Scallions (2 or 3 Scallions) 
• 1 Tbsp + 1 Tsp Minced Fresh Ginger (2 inch piece Ginger)
• 1 Tbsp + 1 Tsp Minced Fresh Garlic (5 Cloves)
• 1/2 Tsp Sea Salt, divided, plus more to taste
• Fresh Cracked Black Pepper to taste
• 2 Tbsp Flavorless Oil, divided. (such as Canola, Grape seed, Avocado oil, etc)

For the Bowl Assembly:

• Cooked Jasmine Rice
• Unwrapped Turkey Egg Roll Filling
• Sliced Avocado
• Sesame Seeds
• Sliced Scallions
• Poached or Fried Eggs
• Sriracha

Directions

For the Sauce:

1. In a small bowl, whisk together the soy sauce, chicken stock, light brown sugar, Sriracha, sesame oil, and rice wine vinegar.
2. Add the cornstarch, 1 tsp at a time, and whisk vigorously until the liquid is smooth and thoroughly incorporated.  Set aside.

For the Egg Roll Filling:

1. In a large skillet with high sides, heat 1 Tbsp of the flavorless oil over medium high heat until hot.  If you flick a drop of water into the skillet it will sizzle and hiss when hot enough.
2. Add half of the garlic and the ginger and saute for 30 seconds to a minute until fragrant, taking care to not burn the garlic.
3. Add the ground turkey and season with 1/4 tsp of the salt.  Brown the turkey until cooked thoroughly, breaking it into pieces as it cooks
4. Remove the cooked turkey into a bowl and cover with aluminum foil.  Drain the pan.  Heat the remaining Tbsp of oil in the pan.
5. Once the oil is hot, add in the onions and season with the remaining 1/4 tsp salt.  Sauté on medium, to medium high heat, for about 5 minutes, until the onions are softened and starting to brown.
6. Add in the remaining garlic and ginger and saute for 30 seconds to 1 minute, until they are fragrant.
7. Add the cabbage, red bell pepper, carrots and mix together.  Whisk together the sauce, then add to the pan.  Cook for about 5 minutes until the cabbage has wilted down and reduced in size.
8. Add the ground turkey back into the skillet and the chopped scallions.  Stir together, taste, then adjust salt and add fresh cracked pepper if desired.  Sauté for an additional 2 to 3 minutes, then turn off heat to assemble the rice bowls.

For the Bowl Assembly:.

1. Spoon desired amount of rice into bottom of bowl.
2. Top with desired amounts of Egg Roll Filling, an egg, and avocado.
3. Garnish with chopped scallions and sesame seeds.  
4. Drizzle additional Sriracha if desired.