cabbage for the New Year: vegetarian egg rolls

I know that by the time this is published, it will be after the New Year's day. But hey, there are still another 365 days left to be lucky. I was talking to one of my employee, Madeline, about what to make for new year. She mentioned that cabbage is believed to be one of the lucky food to eat for the New Year. I looked it up and found that because it resembles money (green=money), it is considered lucky food to eat. Perfect timing I thought, farmers' markets are abundant of cabbage, they are everywhere. It's that time of the year that you can get the best cabbage, in Texas weather especially. So, here is a good recipe that will make use of a lot of cabbage that is available and to start a new year. These vegetarian egg rolls are not only easy to make, they are delicious. Make a bunch and freeze them for those party nights or a surprise visit from a friend. Fry them or bake them. If you bake them, brush a little vegetable or Canola oil and put them on cookie sheet and bake at 350 F until golden. Hope the trick will help our economy to bounce back and it will be an easier year for all. Happy New Year.

Ingredients:

Egg roll wrappers 12 oz
Beanthread noodles (soaked in water) 2 cups
Fungus mushrooms 1 cups
Egg 1 whole
Soy sauce (to taste) 3-5 tbsp
Sugar 1 tbsp
Cabbage (finely chopped) 1 cup
Celery (finely chopped) 1 cup
Garlic (chopped) 1 tbsp
Ground pepper 1-2 tsp
Vegetable oil (for deep frying) 4 cups
Tapioca flour (to make flour paste) 1 tsp


Soak the beanthread and fungus mushrooms in water until soft, drain and cut the noodles into short lengths. Mix together egg, cabbage, celery, fungus mushroom, ground pepper, soy sauce and beanthread and put aside. In a pan heat up a little oil and fry the chopped garlic until aromatic, then add the mixture and fry until cooked and well seasoned. Take this mixture off heat and allow to cool. Once cooled, stuff this filling into the spring roll wrappers and seal with flour paste. To make the paste, mix 1 tsp of tapioca flour with 2tbsp of water and heat up in the microwave for 20 seconds. Be careful not to overstuff your rolls, just about 2 tbsp of filling will be plenty for each roll. Fry egg rolls in hot oil until golden brown and drain, or bake them in the oven at 350 F until golden.

Sweet and sour sauce
Ingredients:

Water ½ cup
Sugar 1 cup
Vinegar ½ cup
Minced garlic 3 tbsp
Salt 1 tsp
Finely chopped chili 1 tsp

In a small heavy sauce pan, combine the sugar, water, vinegar, garlic and salt. Bring to a rolling boil over medium heat. Stir to dissolve the sugar and salt and reduce heat to low. Simmer until the liquid thickens slightly to light syrup. Remove from the heat and add the chili peppers. Cool to room temperature.