Reuben Egg Rolls for Christmas

Reuben Egg Rolls

I don’t think we have done anything quite this silly since the In-N-Out inspired Animal Style Latkes and I am fully expecting these to appear on This is Why You’re Fat sometime soon.  As I was contemplating a Christmas post my thoughts turned to the sterotypical what-Jews-eat-on-Christmas, Chinese food. I knew I wanted something a little different from standard Chinese fare, that would top my trayfe on trayfe of last year. While the exact path to this absurd idea is now lost to me, after some brainstorming,  I came up with the idea for reuben egg rolls, where Jewish and Chinese come together much like the Christmas itself.

Luckily, I now have a pretty consistent supply of deli products from Evan and Leo, who, by the way, after months and months of negotiations, have finally come up with a name for their deli: Wise Sons Jewish Delicatessen. I am looking forward to buying something from them soon, but in the meantime I was happy to trade a burrito for the perfect amount of pastrami, pickles, and russian dressing.

Now I have a friend who freaked out at the prospect of a reuben without rye bread. In an attempt to mollify him I did try a few things like dusting the wrappers in rye flour and caraway seeds, but they didn’t stick well and ended up burning in the oil. So unless you want to make wrappers from scratch using rye flour think of these as a super tasty appetizer homage to the famous sandwich.

Writing this has also alerted me to the fact that while I made them and wrote half a post last year, I never actually put up my reuben post after I made corned beef.  I’ve decided to save it for the day Wise Sons Deli opens its doors, so stay tuned.

Reuben Egg Rolls

• egg roll wrappers
• pastrami or corned beef, cut into small pieces
• sauerkraut
• swiss cheese
• diced pickles
• russian dressing for dipping
• oil for frying

1. On the diagonal fill the egg roll wrapper with meat, sauerkraut, pickles and swiss cheese.
2. fold the bottom corner up over the filling and tuck the corner under, fold in sides and wrap the top around.
3. When your  rolls are wrapped heat oil in a medium sauce pan to 350°F. If you don’t have a thermometer, test your oil temperature with bits of egg roll wrapper.
4. Fry about 30 seconds a side and allow to drain on paper towels.
5. Serve with russian dressing as a dipping sauce.

mis en place

layered with filling

bottom folded up

sides folded in

all rolled up

first side in the oil

second side in the oil

inside the egg roll

Reuben Egg Rolls