Homemade Egg Rolls and Plum Sauce From Scratch {Gluten Free}

I miss many things from back when I could eat gluten or didn’t know that I couldn’t be more accurate. Egg Rolls are near the top of that list. Crisp pastry wrapped around a delicious filling, deep-fried and dipped in plum sauce. What’s better than that? In all honesty, it never even occurred to me to try and make my own gluten-free egg roll wrappers. But, you can’t do an entire series on Chinese Take-Out Food and not make egg rolls. You just can’t. So I figured it out.

Today, I’m going to share my recipe for Homemade Gluten-Free Egg Rolls and Homemade Plum Sauce. You can make these with regular flour. They don’t have to be gluten-free. But if you’re like me and have to avoid gluten at all costs, this is probably something you’ve been waiting for for a long time. And that’s just about enough chit chat. Let’s get to it.

How To Make Plum Sauce

This plum sauce recipe does not taste like bottled plum sauce. I would argue that it tastes much better, but when you know something as one thing, it’s hard to wrap your head around it being different. So, if you can eat gluten and want to use regular plum sauce, that’s perfectly fine. However, if you want to try something different or need it to be gluten-free, try this.

Plum Sauce Ingredients

My plum sauce ingredients are onion, garlic, ginger, plums, Chinese 5 Spice (recipe at the end of the blog or you can use store-bought), pumpkin purée, sugar, salt, Tamari (gluten-free soy sauce), vinegar, and water. You can find the full measurement in the recipe at the end of this section.

Directions

To make the plum sauce, start by dicing and sauteéing the onions in a bit of oil on medium-high heat. After about three minutes or when the onions turn translucent, add in the garlic and ginger, then cook for another minute or two or until slightly browned. Remove the pit from the plums, dice them, and then add them along with the five-spice to the pot. Cook for four to five minutes, then add in the remaining ingredients. Bring the pot to a boil, turn the heat to low, and simmer the sauce for twenty minutes. Let the sauce cool slightly, then purée it with an immersion blender and pass it through a fine-mesh sieve for a smooth sauce.

Egg Roll Filling

I like to keep my Egg Roll filling pretty basic, opting for onion, carrot, celery, cabbage, bean sprouts, garlic, soy sauce, and salt. You can add a bit of ginger, chilli, chicken, pork, beef, shrimp, or just about anything else you want. These are your Egg Rolls, after all. Do with them what you will.

Cooking The Filling

To cook the Egg Roll filling, heat a wok or large skillet over high heat. Add in a tablespoon of oil, then the carrot, onion and celery. Cook for four to five minutes or until the vegetables start to brown. Add in the garlic, and cook for one minute, then the washed and drained bean sprouts. Cook for one to two minutes before adding the cabbage. Cook until the cabbage has wilted, then season with soy sauce and salt. Transfer the cooked vegetables from the wok to the strainer set over a large bowl and let the mixture sit for twenty minutes. This will help prevent the Egg Rolls from becoming soggy and exploding.

Making Egg Roll Wrappers

Egg Roll wrappers are essentially pasta dough. And they are made the same way. To make the dough combine egg yolks with flour and salt, add just enough water to bring the dough together. If you are using regular flour, knead the dough for ten minutes. Kneading for more than a minute or two isn’t needed if you are using gluten-free flour.

*Note: My batch of dough is half of what is written in the recipe below. I ended up having a bunch of leftover filling, so I doubled the recipe for you. So, if you are looking at my picture and wondering why it looks like I have less dough than you do, that is why.

Rolling The Dough

Put the dough on a floured work surface and roll it with a rolling pin to one to two milimeters thick. Trim the edges of the dough to make a large rectangle, then cut the dough into eight centimeter by ten centimeter rectangles. If you are using gluten-free flour, the excess dough can be re-rolled. I’m not sure how it will hold up to re-rolling if you are using regular flour.

*Note: When using regular flour, it is best to make the dough a day before you want to use it, then store it in the fridge overnight. Take the dough out of the fridge an hour before you want to start rolling it. If you try and make the dough using regular flour, it will be way too tough and springy to roll by hand without allowing it that day to rest.

Hand Rolling Egg Rolls

Take one of the dough rectangles and brush the edges with beaten egg white. Place two heaping tablespoons of the filling in the wrapper’s center, then spread it out, leaving a two-centimetre lip on both ends. Roll the wrapper’s bottom up and over the filling, pulling back to tighten, then roll forward to seal. Pinch the ends shut. Repeat until all of the egg rolls are made.

Deep-fry the Egg Rolls in 365°f oil for about five to six minutes or until they turn golden brown. Before you ask, I don’t know how these would stand up to an air fryer or to being baked. I only made them once, and I deep-fried them. Drain the fried egg rolls on a wire rack and serve with homemade plum sauce.

*Note: I did notice that when deep-fried a second time, after cooling, the egg rolls became much crispier. After the initial fry, you can cool the egg rolls and store them in the fridge for up to two days or freeze them.

Conclusion

It was really something special for me to have Egg Rolls, let alone homemade ones. Of all the items I have made in this series so far, I think these are my favourite if for no other reason becasue I never thought I would ever eat an egg roll again. Whether you have to eat gluten-free or not, I suggest you make this. It is a great project for a rainy Sunday afternoon, and it is well worth the effort.

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