If, like me, you’ve only had egg rolls filled with cabbage and vegetables, you’ll enjoy the change of pace with five spice meat rolls. The outside is crunchy from the fried wrapper while the inside is all spicy ground pork and shrimp made flavorful by five spice powder and other Asian style sauces.

As frequently happens with recipes like this, I had to improvise with ingredients I had on hand. I was unable to find oyster sauce so I substituted a little fish sauce and a generous spoonful of pad Thai sauce. At least I was able to buy five spice powder.

The combination of star anise, cinnamon, cloves, fennel and black peppercorns represents the five flavors: sweet, sour, bitter, salt and umami.

According to The Informal Chef blog, which I relied on for this recipe, five spice meat rolls go by many names in China depending on where you are, and there are many ways to make them. I was disappointed I couldn’t find water chestnuts to add to the meat mixture. Instead I used bamboo shoots, which tasted fine, but I would have liked the little extra crunchiness when biting into the roll.

Five Spice Meat Rolls are often sold as street food but traditionally they were served for Chinese New Year celebrations.

In the recipe below I will indicate the original ingredients when I made a change. This video demonstrates one way to form the meat rolls. You could also roll them burrito style.

Five Spice Meat Roll ~ Lydia's Flexitarian Kitchen

Five Spice Meat Rolls

Print Recipe Pin Recipe Rate Recipe

Prep Time: 4

Cook Time: 8

Total Time: 4 8

Servings: servings

Author: LydiaF

Ingredients

3 - 4 cloves of garlic minced
1/2 cup diced onion 1 medium or 1/2 large
pinch red pepper flakes
1 pound ground pork
1/2 pound uncooked shrimp peeled, deveined and chopped
1/2 cup chopped green onion
1/2 cup diced bamboo shoots chopped water chestnuts in original
1 egg
1 tablespoon flour
10 - 12 large egg roll wrappers bean curd wrappers in original
vegetable oil for frying

Seasoning blend

2 tablespoons Five Spice Powder
1/2 teaspoon fish sauce replacing 1 tablespoon dried shrimp in original
1 tablespoon pad thai sauce 1 tablespoon oyster sauce in original
1 tablespoon rice vinegar shaoxing wine in original
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt or to taste
1 teaspoon pepper or to taste

Instructions

In a medium skillet over medium heat, saute the garlic, onions and red pepper flakes in a little oil until softened and beginning to change color.
While that's cooking, mix the ingredients for the seasoning blend in the bottom of a large mixing bowl. Add the pork, shrimp, green onion, bamboo shoots into the same bowl.
Stir in the sauteed onions and garlic and mix all the ingredients together well, then add the egg and flour and mix again.
Place the mix in the refrigerator for several hours or overnight to marinade. (I transferred mine to a container with a lid).
To make the rolls, place an egg roll wrapper with one corner facing you on your workspace, take about 1/3 cup of the meat mixture and place it about midway on the wrapper. Form it into a rough sausage shape. Then roll it, tucking the side toward the center as you go. Seal the edges with water or beaten egg. You should have between 10 and 12 meat rolls when finished.
Select a saucepan large enough to contain two meat rolls and heat a couple inches of oil to 350F/180C. Deep fry the rolls for 6 to 8 minutes or until golden brown on all sides.
Drain before slicing to serve.

Like this recipe?Be sure to Pin It for later!

Recipes for Chinese New Year:

Five Spice Meat Rolls