Asian Spice Apple Egg Rolls

First full week of 2018 and I am leaning into the writing intention. I wrote three blog posts this week — more than I usually write in a month. One about osechi and the symbolism of New Year's foods. One about my writing course experience and what it taught me about specificity. One about winter farmers markets and the beauty of root vegetables, those unglamorous, dirt-covered ingredients that carry a sweetness you would never guess from looking at them. The root vegetable post was, I think, a metaphor for me, but I did not make it explicit. Some metaphors are better left for the reader to find.

I made buri daikon this week — yellowtail fish simmered with daikon in a sweet soy broth. It is a winter dish, hearty and rich, the fish and the daikon exchanging flavors over a slow simmer until you cannot tell where the fish ends and the radish begins. Fumiko makes it in January when the daikon is sweetest, pulled from cold soil, the starch converted to sugar by the frost. The daikon I bought at the market was good but not Sacramento good, not Ken's garden good. Portland daikon is a product of a mild winter. Sacramento daikon is a product of hard frost and a man who has been growing it for forty years. Some things cannot be replicated outside their native soil.

Miya is twenty-one months old and she said "Obaachan" this week — clearly, deliberately, pointing at a photograph of Fumiko that sits on the bookshelf. She said it three times. "Obaachan." The word is five syllables and she got every one of them right and I sat on the floor and cried because my daughter named my grandmother in Japanese, which means the language is taking root, which means the Saturday school I will insist on in a few years has already begun in this apartment, in the daily exposure to Japanese words and Japanese food and the Japanese silence that is the soundtrack of our kitchen.

I called Fumiko to tell her. Fumiko said, "She said it correctly?" I said yes. Fumiko said, "Then she is learning." The praise was minimal. The pride was enormous. You had to know where to look. I have spent thirty-two years knowing where to look.

After a week of slow simmers and deep Japanese flavors — and after sitting on the floor crying because my daughter said “Obaachan” like she had always known the word — I wanted to end on something lighter, something that played with the Asian pantry without asking as much of me emotionally. These Asian Spice Apple Egg Rolls are a sweet contradiction: a Chinese-American wrapper, a filling that smells like winter markets, and five-spice powder tying it all together the way language ties a family together. Fumiko would find them unusual. Miya would eat four of them off the plate before I could stop her.

Prep Time: 20 min | Cook Time: 15 min | Total Time: 35 min | Servings: 4 (2 egg rolls each)

Ingredients

8 egg roll wrappers
2 medium apples (such as Fuji or Honeycrisp), peeled, cored, and diced small
2 tbsp brown sugar, packed
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp Chinese five-spice powder
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp rice vinegar
1 tsp toasted sesame oil
1 tbsp cornstarch
1 egg, beaten (for sealing)
Neutral oil for frying (about 2 cups)
Powdered sugar, for serving (optional)
Honey or sweet chili dipping sauce, for serving (optional)

Instructions

Make the filling. In a medium bowl, combine the diced apples, brown sugar, cinnamon, five-spice powder, ground ginger, soy sauce, rice vinegar, sesame oil, and cornstarch. Toss until the apple pieces are evenly coated. Let sit for 5 minutes so the apples begin to release their juices and the cornstarch absorbs them.
Assemble the egg rolls. Lay one egg roll wrapper on a clean surface in a diamond orientation. Place about 3 tablespoons of filling in the lower third of the wrapper. Fold the bottom corner up over the filling, then fold in the two side corners snugly. Roll upward tightly toward the top corner, brushing the final corner with beaten egg to seal. Repeat with remaining wrappers and filling.
Heat the oil. Pour oil into a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan or Dutch oven to a depth of about 2 inches. Heat over medium-high until a small piece of wrapper dropped in sizzles immediately — around 350°F on a thermometer.
Fry the egg rolls. Working in batches of 2–3, carefully lower the egg rolls into the hot oil. Fry for 3–4 minutes, turning once or twice, until deep golden brown and crispy on all sides. Do not crowd the pan. Adjust heat as needed to maintain temperature.
Drain and rest. Remove egg rolls with a slotted spoon or spider and transfer to a plate lined with paper towels. Let rest for 2 minutes — the filling will be very hot.
Serve. Dust lightly with powdered sugar if desired and serve alongside honey or sweet chili dipping sauce. Best eaten warm, the day they are made.

Nutrition (per serving)

Asian Spice Apple Egg Rolls — A Crispy Winter Sweet That Bridges Two Worlds