Eggplant rolls is an easy snack made from thin strips of eggplant filled with seasoned chicken spread fried together into one quick and healthy snack. With the use of liquid batter, the crust of each roll is surely crispy and crunchy! Since this dish uses eggplant, it is relatively less in calories compared with other snacks. The eggplant rolls can be served as an appetizer or have it with rice if you are a rice person. Get your dipping sauces ready!
EGGPLANT ROLLS
As a Pinoy, we are all biased when it comes to lumpia as the best fried filled snack. But what is lumpia without a lumpia wrapper?
I was about to make a large batch of lumpia (for personal consumption hehe) so I bought all the ingredients for my filling. I went with minced chicken since I was having a lot of pork dishes lately. I was really excited when preparing the lumpia filling as I love adding different veggies in it (especially my bell pepper).
To my surprise, I was not able to buy lumpia wrapper. (Yes, please don’t judge). I was really craving for that bite sized crunch with my favorite chicken filling inside. Since I have some extra eggplants in my pantry, I know I had to make things happen. Instead of crying, I decided to replace he wrapper with thin slices of eggplant. What I love about eggplant is that the taste is not too strong, but becomes extra savoury when fried.
By using the eggplant as my “wrapper”, not just did I discover a new way to prepare eggplant but I was also able to make this dish healthier since it uses vegetables.
If you wanna know how to make eggplant rolls at home, read and follow the quick steps below. Happy cooking!
HOW TO MAKE EGGPLANT ROLLS
While this recipe may look new to you, don’t worry as I can assure you that the following steps will be super easy.
The two important parts of this recipe is the chicken filling and the thin eggplant. For the chicken filling, just think of a lumpia filling but way smoother and finer. Instead of the usual ground pork or chicken, we are using the minced one. You can use any flavoring and any veggie that you want to include, but make sure that they are chopped finely. You may use a food processor to make this step easier. The reason why we want minced ingredients is that once we spread the filling in the eggplant, we do not want the roll to be too much bulky. Do not forget to add the egg as this will serve as the binder.
For the eggplant, simply slice them into thin pieces. To make this easier, use a peeler. Around 1/8 of an inch may do. Using this measurement, we can yield to a lot of servings in just a single eggplant. We want it thin enough to be rolled but thick enough to hold the spread. No need to remove the skin as this will also hold the eggplant together.
Spread the filling onto one side of each eggplant and then roll gently. Spread it THINLY to also make sure that the filling will be cooked later. You may use a toothpick to seal the ends of the roll, making sure it wont burst as we fry them later. Before frying, make a cold liquid batter using cornstarch. The batter is important to be there because we all know that eggplant becomes super soft when cooked/fried. The batter will give it an extra layer of crust which will also make this dish crispy on the outside but soft on the inside.
The last step to do is to deep fry them. The eggplants cook pretty fast so once the crust is golden brown in color, then that’s a good sign that the eggplant rolls are ready to be transferred into a strainer. Make sure to drain the excess oil from the rolls as this may make them soggy.
Prepare your dipping sauces and this snack is already good to go. I usually enjoy this with the classic mayo and ketchup combination but keep on experimenting with other sauces. Yum!
COOKING TIPS: If you are a cheese lover, you can also add thin slices of cheese onto each roll
Eggplant Rolls
5
servingsIngredients
2 pieces large eggplant
2 cups chicken (minced)
¼ cup spring onions (chopped)
¼ cup carrots (shredded)
red bell pepper (chopped)
3 cloves garlic (minced)
salt to taste
black pepper to taste
1 large egg
liquid seasoning (optional)
½ tablespoon oyster sauce
oil (for frying)
- For the coating:
1 cup cornstarch
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon paprika powder (optional)
cold water
Directions
- In a large bowl, combine the minced chicken, spring onions, shredded carrots, red bell peppers, garlic, liquid seasoning (optional), oyster sauce, black pepper and salt. Mix until well combined. Crack an egg and then continue mixing. Set aside.
- Prepare the eggplants and slice them thinly (do not remove the skin).
- Spread the chicken mixture to the thin eggplant and then roll gently. You may put a toothpick to make sure that the roll will not be opened. Do these steps with the rest of the ingredients.
- For the coating, add the cornstarch, salt, pepper, garlic powder and paprika powder (optional). Mix well and then add cold water to turn it into a thin liquid batter.
- Heat a lot of oil in a pan. Dip each of the rolled eggplants into the batter then transfer directly to the hot oil. Fry them until golden brown. Do this in batches and do not overcrowd the pan. Flip each to cook the other side. Once nicely cooked, transfer to a strainer or paper towel to drain excess oil.
- Transfer the eggplant rolls to a serving plate and serve with your favorite dipping sauce. You can make papak or enjoy with hot rice. Yum!
