I recently went to Cheesecake Factory for a lovely dinner and in my curiosity to try new foods I ordered the Avocado Egg Rolls. It was heavenly from the first bite! It was spicy, tangy, and sweet all in one with the special dipping sauce! So the moment I got back home and start figuring out a way to recreate this dish and this is my rendition.
The two items that will not be easy to find in a regular grocery store are the egg roll / spring roll wraps and the tamarind pulp. I know for a fact that Whole Foods and some Publix Supermarkets carry the egg roll wraps but they don’t have the tamarind pulp.
If you’re searching for these two items in the West Palm Beach area you can go to the Oriental Market on Military Trail and Westgate Avenue. There is a Marshalls, Petco, L.A. Fitness right next door. Their number is 561-686-3655. I called in advance to make sure they had the items I needed and the lady there was more than happy to help me and had my items waiting for me at the counter! 🙂
The saffron is not easy to come by at a regular grocery store either. Whole Foods sells the saffron strands, which you can easily just grind up yourself like I did for this recipe. You can also find the powder at Cyber Cucina. They sell .03 oz of it for $24.50. That sounds like a lot but saffron is the most expensive spice in the world. There are other sites on the net that sell 1 oz. for about $120…don’t be alarmed because that is accurate. Why does it cost so much? Saffron is made from the stigmas of crocus flowers. The stigmas have to be hand picked and to make the saffron. It takes 14,000 stigmas to make 1 oz. of saffron. Glad that’s not my job, in a way. Ha!
Avocado Egg Rolls
Ingredients
Dipping Sauce
4 tsp white vinegar
1 tsp balsamic vinegar
1/2 tsp tamarind pulp
1/2 cup honey
1 pinch saffron threads
1/2 cup chopped cashews
2/3 cup fresh cilantro
2 garlic cloves
2 green onions
1 tbsp granulated sugar
1 tsp cracked black pepper
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 cup olive oil
Egg Rolls
6 California avocados (Haas avocados)
2 tbsp sun-dried tomatoes packed in oil, chopped
1 tbsp yellow onion, minced
1/2 tsp fresh cilantro
*pinch salt
14 egg roll wraps
Prepare
1. Stir together the vinegars, tamarind, honey, saffron with a fork in a small microwave safe bowl, and microwave for 1 minute.
2. Stir until tamarind is dissolved.
3. In a blender, puree tamarind mixture with cashews 2/3 cup cilantro, garlic, onions, sugar, pepper, cumin, and olive oil.
4. Refrigerate until ready to use.
5. In a medium sized mixing bowl stir together avocado, tomatoes, onion, 1/2 tsp cilantro, and salt.
6. Distribute filling evenly onto center of each spring roll wrapper.
7. Position the wrapper so that the corner is pointing to you, fold the bottom corner up and the top corner down, bring the right side over and begin rolling tightly. (See diagram above if you’re a visual person like me).
8. Repeat with remaning wrappers.
9. Place 5 tbsp olive oil in a large skillet on medium heat. (Note another alternative is deep frying them but I refuse to get one since I don’t particularly enjoy food with that much oil)
10. Cook each side of the roll for 2 minutes or until golden brown.
11. Slice the rolls diagonally with santoku knife and serve with the dipping sauce.
- Dipping Sauce
- 4 tsp white vinegar
- 1 tsp balsamic vinegar
- 1/2 tsp tamarind pulp
- 1/2 cup honey
- 1 pinch saffron threads
- 1/2 cup chopped cashews
- 2/3 cup fresh cilantro
- 2 garlic cloves
- 2 green onions
- 1 tbsp granulated sugar
- 1 tsp cracked black pepper
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- Egg Rolls
- 6 California avocados (Haas avocados)
- 2 tbsp sun-dried tomatoes packed in oil, chopped
- 1 tbsp yellow onion, minced
- 1/2 tsp fresh cilantro
- pinch salt
- 14 egg roll wraps
- Stir together the vinegars, tamarind, honey, saffron with a fork in a small microwave safe bowl, and microwave for 1 minute.
- Stir until tamarind is dissolved.
- In a blender, puree tamarind mixture with cashews 2/3 cup cilantro, garlic, onions, sugar, pepper, cumin, and olive oil.
- Refrigerate until ready to use.
- In a medium sized mixing bowl stir together avocado, tomatoes, onion, 1/2 tsp cilantro, and salt.
- Distribute filling evenly onto center of each spring roll wrapper.
- Position the wrapper so that the corner is pointing to you, fold the bottom corner up and the top corner down, bring the right side over and begin rolling tightly. (See diagram above if you're a visual person like me).
- Repeat with remaning wrappers.
- Place 5 tbsp olive oil in a large skillet on medium heat. (Note another alternative is deep frying them but I refuse to get one since I don't particularly enjoy food with that much oil)
- Cook each side of the roll for 2 minutes or until golden brown.
- Slice the rolls diagonally with santoku knife and serve with the dipping sauce.
