How to Wrap Egg Rolls: Restaurant Lessons - The Woks of Life (2024)

Learning how to wrap egg rolls at home may seem difficult, but with a few tips, you’ll wonder why you didn’t try making them sooner. Our family used to run a Chinese restaurant, and we wrapped thousands of egg rolls.

In this post, we’ll show you in detail how to properly wrap the perfect egg roll, so you can make our classic takeout egg rolls, vegetable egg rolls, avocado egg rolls, and any other egg roll recipe you like!

Be sure to check out our step-by-step photos, video, and our tip on what to do if your egg roll wrapper breaks!

The Origins of the Chinese (American) Egg Roll

The origins of the egg roll are murky, but most agree that they were invented in the Northeastern U.S. That’s right—they’re an American invention, and you won’t find them in China.

Egg rolls are deep-fried savory rolls with a thick wheat flour skin that may or may not actually contain egg. We do use beaten egg to seal them—perhaps that’s how they got their name!

The filling usually consists predominantly of shredded cabbage, along with Chinese BBQ Pork, shrimp, and/or other vegetables. As a standby on Chinese American takeout menus for decades, they are usually served with sweet duck sauce, plum sauce, and/or Chinese hot mustard.

What is the Difference Between Egg Rolls and Spring Rolls?

While egg rolls are related to Chinese spring rolls (and by extension, other types of Asian spring rolls from Thailand, Vietnam, etc.), they’re quite different.

A traditional spring roll is much thinner and more delicate than an egg roll. Egg rolls use a thicker wrapper or “skin” that resembles a sheet of pasta and fries up into a hearty, bubbly, crunchy shell. They are also about double the size/thickness of a spring roll.

In recent years, I’ve noticed Chinese restaurants opting to serve spring rolls rather than egg rolls, but before that, you probably only saw crispy spring rolls show up on dim sum carts!

How Do I Tell It’s An Egg Roll Wrapper?

The good news is that almost no one bothers making their own wrappers—for spring rolls OR egg rolls—so that’s one less thing to worry about.

We’ve noticed both egg roll and spring roll wrappers have become increasingly available not just at Asian grocery stores, but some well-stocked supermarkets.

If you’re looking to make egg rolls, make sure you’re buying the correct wrappers! Egg roll wrappers are thick, square, pasta-like sheets of dough. They are usually available fresh (not frozen).

Make sure you’re not buying the thinner (also wheat-based) spring roll wrappers in the frozen section, or the dried rice paper wrappers (these are for making Vietnamese spring rolls and summer rolls).

While they may have once included both flour and eggs, these days, many manufacturers have omitted the egg—great news for vegans! Use them to make our classic Chinese Egg Rolls and our Vegetarian Egg Rolls.

How to Wrap Chinese Egg Rolls

Place the square egg roll wrapper on a flat surface in a diamond configuration (so that a corner is facing toward you).

Squeeze the filling lightly in your palm so it’s free of air bubbles and easier to wrap.

Place the filling on the lower third of the wrapper.

Roll the corner closest to you over the filling once, gently tucking it under filling.

Gently press down on each side of the filling to flatten the wrapper.

Next, fold over both the left and right sides of the wrapper towards the middle.

Brush the egg wash over the opposite corner of the egg roll wrapper, taking care only to brush it on the wrapper itself.

If your egg roll wrapper breaks, patch it!

Take the corner of another wrapper, and brush it with egg wash (be sure to only egg wash one side). Place the egg washed “patch” over the hole. It should stick. Be sure to make the patch large enough to have some margin around the hole! (You can still use the wrapper you took the patch from.)

Now, with your fingers on top of the roll, continue tightly rolling the egg roll into a cigar shape until completely sealed.

Place the finished egg roll sealed side down on a wooden cutting board or a sheet pan lined with parchment paper. Repeat until you’ve assembled all the egg rolls.

Watch Video!