Egg rolls, lumpia, spring rolls — whatever you call them, it means meat and/or vegetables wrapped and usually fried. Typical wrappers for egg rolls are made with wheat. But after watching Emeril use rice paper wrappers on Planet Green, I decided to try making egg rolls with them. The rice paper spring roll wrappers were a little more difficult to work with, but with a little practice they turned out even better than the traditional — lighter and crispier in texture.

Gluten-Free Egg Rolls

Ingredients:

1/4 Cup soy sauce (Make sure it’s gluten-free!)
1/2 tsp dry ground mustard
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp garlic salt
salt and pepper to season
1 lb. ground pork
20-24 Rice Paper/12″ Spring Roll Wrappers
2 – 3 Cups vegetables, julienne
peanut oil for frying

Directions:

1. Mix the soy sauce, mustard, ginger and garlic salt and pour into a wok or large skillet over medium heat. Add the vegetables and cook for about 10 minutes, stirring frequently. Remove the vegetables.
2. Lightly season the pork with salt and pepper and place into the skillet. Using a spoon or spatula, break up the pork into small pieces. Cook about 10 minutes until the pink is almost gone. Then add the vegetables to the pork and stir together. Remove from the heat.
3. Prepare the wrappers: Place about 1/4 cup of water onto a large plate. Now gently take a wrapper and submerge it into the water for about 15 seconds. Don’t leave it in too long or it will start to break up. You just need it to be pliable enough to work with. Remove the wrapper from the water and place on another clean plate.
4. Wrap it up: Place about 2 heaping tablespoons of the meat/vegetable filling onto the upper middle of the wrapper. Fold the top of the wrapper over the filling and then fold in each side. Now roll it up, making sure to tuck in the filling. Continue rolling until it is all tightly sealed. Set aside and continue with the remaining egg rolls. The wrappers can get sticky, so don’t stack the egg rolls.
5. Pour about 1″ inch of oil into a large pot and heat over medium-high. Carefully place three or four egg rolls into the oil and turn each one as it starts to brown. It should only take a couple minutes to cook. Once they are browned on all sides, remove to a drying rack or a plate lined with paper towels.  Continue cooking four egg rolls at a time until they are all cooked.

Additional Notes:

• The wrappers can get sticky. So, don’t stack them up before frying. I didn’t have trouble with them sticking to the pot, but I did have trouble with the wrappers sticking to my tongs, so turn them carefully.
• Serve with rice and a sweet-and-sour sauce for dipping. Delicious!
• You may also want to try Emeril’s Honey-Mustard Dipping Sauce: Combine 1 TBSP Dijon mustard, 1 TBSP lemon juice, 1 TBSP honey. Then whisk in 1/4 Cup Canola oil.
• If you haven’t gotten a chance to see Emeril Lagasse’s Emeril Green show, check it out:
  • No wheat, no nuts episode
  • Gluten-Free, New Orleans-style
  • Gluten-Free pizza

If you’re looking for more gluten-free recipes, check out this week’s edition of What Can I Eat That’s Gluten Free? at The Gluten-Free Homemaker.