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Egg Roll in a Bowl

All the filling of an egg roll without the wrapper: ground pork browned hard, cabbage and carrots stir-fried just until crisp-tender, and a ginger-garlic soy sauce, ready in twenty-five minutes.

Prep
10 min
Cook
15 min
Makes
Serves 4
Jump to the recipe
Stir-fried pork and cabbage in a black pan
Photo: Pixabay / Pexels

Egg roll in a bowl skips the wrapper and the deep fryer: it is the filling of a Chinese-American egg roll, cooked in a skillet and eaten from a bowl. Ground pork, cabbage, carrots, ginger and garlic, tossed in a soy-based sauce. It became popular as a low-carb dinner, and it has stayed popular because it takes twenty-five minutes in one pan and tastes better than it has any right to.

The whole dish depends on not turning the cabbage into a soggy heap. Cabbage is mostly water. Pile a full bag of coleslaw mix on top of the pork in a crowded pan over medium heat and it steams, releases its liquid, and slumps into something limp and watery. Cooked hot and quickly in a wide pan, it wilts at the edges but keeps a crisp center, and the sauce clings instead of being diluted.

So use the largest skillet or wok you have and get it hot. Brown the pork first, on its own, and really brown it: let it sit without stirring for a few minutes so it develops crisp, caramelized edges before you break it up. That browning is the deepest flavor in the dish. Pour off excess fat, then add the aromatics, then the cabbage.

Add the cabbage in two batches if your pan is not large, and toss it constantly over high heat for three or four minutes, just until it wilts and turns bright. Take it off the heat while it still has some crunch, because it keeps softening in the hot pan and in the bowl.

Bagged coleslaw mix is the obvious shortcut, already shredded cabbage with carrots. Shredding half a head of green cabbage yourself gives longer, slightly sturdier strands that hold up better. Napa cabbage is more tender and cooks even faster.

The sauce is simple and goes in at the end: soy sauce, rice vinegar, toasted sesame oil, and a little sriracha or chili garlic sauce for heat. Fresh ginger and garlic carry the flavor of an egg roll, so do not skip them. Grate the ginger finely so it disperses through the pan.

Finish with sliced green onions, sesame seeds and a drizzle of spicy mayonnaise if you want the creamy contrast of a dipping sauce. A fried egg on top makes it more filling. For those not counting carbs, serve over steamed rice or noodles.

For the version with a wrapper, corned beef and sauerkraut egg rolls are a fun twist, and beef spring rolls are the fresh rice-paper version. Egg drop soup makes it a full takeout-style meal.

A bowl of ground pork with chopsticks
Photo: Eva Bronzini / Pexels

Egg roll in a bowl, for the stove

All the filling of an egg roll without the wrapper: ground pork browned hard, cabbage and carrots stir-fried just until crisp-tender, and a ginger-garlic soy sauce, ready in twenty-five minutes.

Pork, cabbage and a ginger-soy sauce

For the stir-fry

  • 1 tbsp vegetable oil
  • 1 lb (450 g) ground pork
  • ½ tsp fine salt
  • 1 small yellow onion, thinly sliced
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 tbsp fresh ginger, finely grated
  • 1 bag (14 oz / 400 g) coleslaw mix, or 6 cups shredded green cabbage plus 1 grated carrot
  • 4 green onions, sliced, white and green parts separated

For the sauce

  • 3 tbsp low-sodium soy sauce
  • 1 tbsp rice vinegar
  • 2 tsp toasted sesame oil
  • 1–2 tsp sriracha or chili garlic sauce
  • 1 tsp honey or brown sugar (optional)

To serve

  • 1 tsp toasted sesame seeds
  • 2 tbsp mayonnaise mixed with 1 tsp sriracha (optional)
  • Fried eggs or steamed rice (optional)

Brown hard, wilt fast, sauce last

  1. 1 Whisk the soy sauce, rice vinegar, sesame oil, sriracha and honey, if using, in a small bowl.
  2. 2 Heat the oil in a large skillet or wok over medium-high heat. Add the pork in an even layer, sprinkle with the salt, and cook without stirring for 3–4 minutes until browned underneath. Break it up and cook until no pink remains and the edges are crisp, 3 minutes more. Spoon off excess fat.
  3. 3 Add the onion and the white parts of the green onions and cook 2 minutes, until softened. Add the garlic and ginger and stir 30 seconds until fragrant.
  4. 4 Turn the heat to high. Add the coleslaw mix, in two batches if the pan is crowded, and toss constantly until it wilts but still has some crunch, 3–4 minutes.
  5. 5 Pour in the sauce and toss for 30 seconds to coat everything. Take the pan off the heat immediately.
  6. 6 Divide among bowls and top with the green onion tops, sesame seeds and a drizzle of spicy mayo, if using. Serve as is, with a fried egg, or over rice.

Other meats, low carb and leftovers

  • Other meats: ground chicken, turkey or beef all work. Lean meats need an extra 1 tbsp oil and benefit from 1 tsp more soy sauce.
  • Low carb: skip the honey and serve it as is. Use coconut aminos instead of soy sauce for a soy-free version.
  • Vegetarian: replace the pork with 14 oz (400 g) extra-firm tofu, pressed and crumbled, browned well in 2 tbsp oil.
  • Leftovers: refrigerate up to 3 days. Reheat in a hot skillet rather than the microwave to keep the cabbage from going limp.
  • Meal prep: portion with rice into containers. The cabbage softens by day two but the flavor improves.

Watery cabbage, carbs and crack slaw

The cabbage steamed in a crowded pan over too little heat. Use a large pan on high heat, add the cabbage in batches, and cook it only until just wilted.

Yes, without rice or noodles. Leave out the honey to keep it lower in sugar, and check the label of your sriracha.

Yes. Half a medium green cabbage, thinly sliced, plus one grated carrot equals one bag of coleslaw mix.

It is a nickname from low-carb cooking communities for how addictive the dish is. It is the same recipe.