By Mid-Bryant visit. Brayden is ninety-three weeks old. The Sapulpa weekend was Friday afternoon through Sunday afternoon — we drove down Friday at three PM with the Bryants following in their car, stayed Friday-and-Saturday at Mama’s (the Bryants at the Holiday Inn on the highway), Sunday breakfast at the cafe, Sunday dinner at Aunt Linda’s, drove back to Tulsa Sunday evening.
The egg roll in a bowl is the deconstructed-egg-roll weeknight dish — ground pork, shredded cabbage, shredded carrot, garlic, ginger, soy sauce, sesame oil, all stir-fried in a wok or large skillet, served over rice or eaten as a low-carb bowl. The dish takes the egg-roll filling and skips the wrapping-and-frying step.
The technique question is the heat-and-the-stir. The wok needs to be smoking-hot. The ground pork goes in first to render. The cabbage-and-carrot go in second for ninety seconds. The aromatics (garlic, ginger) go in third for thirty seconds. The sauce goes in last for ten seconds. The total cooking time is under five minutes.
Sunday I made it for the family dinner after we got back from Sapulpa. Dustin had two large bowls. The Bryants had small portions before they headed back to the Hampton Inn for the night. Brayden had a small portion of plain ground pork-and-rice (no cabbage, no carrot, no sauce).
Mama and Cody have continued to run the small Sapulpa-cafe at its small steady-state pace. The breakfast rush moves through. The lunch-plate-special rotates daily. The Friday-regional-special slot keeps the small adventurous-element alive. Cody’s pop-up Tuesday continues to sell out within an hour of the Friday-menu-post.
The technique-detail I always lean on: the temperature of the cooking-surface matters more than the temperature in the recipe. A hot pan with cold ingredients fails. A medium pan with room-temperature ingredients succeeds. Let the small ingredients come to the small kitchen-temperature before the small cooking starts.
Egg Roll in a Bowl
Prep Time: 10 min | Cook Time: 15 min | Total Time: 25 min | Servings: 4
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground pork (or ground turkey)
- 1 small head green cabbage, thinly sliced (about 4 cups)
- 1 cup shredded carrots
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon fresh ginger, grated (or 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger)
- 3 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 2 green onions, sliced
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Red pepper flakes (optional)
Instructions
- Brown the meat. Heat vegetable oil in a large skillet or wok over medium-high heat. Add ground pork and cook, breaking it apart, until browned and cooked through, about 6–8 minutes. Drain excess fat if needed.
- Add aromatics. Push the meat to one side of the pan. Add garlic and ginger to the cleared space and cook for 30 seconds until fragrant, then stir into the meat.
- Cook the vegetables. Add cabbage and carrots to the skillet. Toss everything together and cook, stirring frequently, for 5–6 minutes until the cabbage is wilted but still has a little bite.
- Season. Drizzle soy sauce and sesame oil over the mixture. Stir to combine. Taste and adjust with salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes if using.
- Finish and serve. Remove from heat, top with sliced green onions, and serve hot. Works great on its own, over rice, or with a fried egg on top.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 310 | Protein: 22g | Fat: 19g | Carbs: 11g | Fiber: 3g | Sodium: 620mg