Five Spice Chicken Fennel Egg Rolls with Orange Ginger Sauce

Five Spice Chicken Fennel Egg Rolls with Orange Ginger Sauce

Several years ago, I came up with this recipe, basically with ingredients that I had on hand at the time. I am not a fan of cabbage based egg rolls as I find them pretty bland but this recipe is full of bright flavors; bland they are not! I've served them many, many times since; most recently as an hor's d'ouevre when friends came for the evening a couple of weeks back and they were once again a big hit. The recipe for the Orange Ginger Sauce, which is a great complement to these eggrolls, follows this post.

1 package egg roll wrappers

Heat 3 tbsp olive oil in a large skillet

Add:

1 large boneless chicken breast, chopped into very small pieces
2 cloves minced garlic
When the chicken is cooked through add
1 tbsp grated fresh ginger root
½ bulb fennel, shredded
1 large carrot, grated
½ tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 ½ tsp Chinese five spice powder
½ tsp kosher salt
Sauté for an additional minute, then remove from heat and cool for about 20 minutes before tossing with
4 cups fresh bean sprouts

To fill your eggrolls, lay the wrapper flat and lightly brush the edges with water. Spoon some of the filling in the middle of the wrapper. Bring one edge of the wrapper over the filling so that it is about a centimetre from the opposite edge. Fold the remaining centimetre of the wrapper back over the other edge and pinch all the edges together well. Lay on a parchment lined cookie sheet until you have all the eggrolls stuffed and ready for the fryer.

Heat canola oil in a deep fryer to 325 degrees F and fry the eggrolls until golden brown. Remove from the oil and drain on a wire rack.

Serve with Orange Ginger Sauce.