Looks: As you can see, the egg roll filling lacks the vibrant greens and pinks depicted on the box but instead displays all the liveliness of day-old baby food. Neither do the egg roll crusts match their advertised color; they didn’t hardly darken at all from freezer to oven. 2.5 out of 5
Taste: I would be hard-pressed to tell the difference in a blind taste test between these egg rolls and egg rolls from any nearby Chinese restaurant. (Whether this indicates that these are quality egg rolls or that I have never eaten truly delicious Chinese takeout is unknown.) The outside is crispy and the inside is meaty and flavorful, but the rolls do drip quite a bit of oil as you eat them. (Side note: I have also tried the chicken version of these rolls. They don’t suffer from the excess oil problem; rather, they are exceedingly dry. Stick with the Pork or Pork/Shrimp versions if you decide to buy them.) 4 out of 5
I think that a lot of the time with your reviews, your rating of looks is upped when the food tastes good. To me, the actual version (made by you) would receive a 1.5 out of 5 in looks. Where are the many bits of shrimp gushing out of the crispy-looking roll in the second picture? That alone is a huge loss (possibly even 3 points out of 5 lost) because it’s not visible in your picture, at least to me… As you mentioned, “the egg roll filling lacks the vibrant greens and pinks depicted on the box”, which is another reason to lower the score, and lower it a lot, when noticing that your cooked version looks exceptionally colorless. Those two factors together are two good reasons to be unable to give those egg rolls any score about a 2.0 out of 5. What’s worse is that, in the second picture, I don’t see the rolls layered on top of vibrantly green and crisp-looking lettuce, or sitting next to a smooth, red sauce, which lowers my overall “looks” rating to a 1.5. I hope that the taste makes up for what the looks lack, though. I will continuously read and comment on your reviews, and maybe even be influenced by some. If this is something I can find in my frozen foods section, I’ll be sure to see how much flavor these are actually jam-packed with…
“…where you see all the orientals eat.” Orientals is a racist term referring to anyone of Asian descent. Egg rolls are associated specifically with Chinese food.
Judging by your buying of egg rolls from a chinese restaurant, I’m assuming you haven’t been to a chinese restaurant that hasn’t been americanized for well, american tastes. Head to the chinatown where you see all the orientals eat, and that is probably your best bet for real (no guarantees on good) chinese food.
“Whether this indicates that these are quality egg rolls or that I have never eaten truly delicious Chinese takeout is unknown.” – Hahahaha.
Chung’s spring rolls (not egg rolls) are quite good. To eliminate greasiness, lay the spring rolls on a wire rack over a cookie sheet, the oil will drip on the pan while baking. The spring rolls will be crispy but not too greasy .Also, empty the dipping sauce into a small bowl and microwave it for 15 seconds so the sauce will caramelize a bit.
Holy crap guys.. these are FROZEN egg rolls out of the supermarket! Of course they aren’t going to hold up to the quality of authentic Asian Cooking. And you don’t call Asian people Orientals… ha ha… RUGS are Oriental.. not people. BUT! If you don’t want to spend all day making egg rolls.. these are a good quick version. NO they aren’t colorful.. but your stomach isn’t an interior decorator in its secret life either. They taste very good and isn’t that really the idea?
The egg rolls on the box have been deep fried. Egg rolls from Chinese resturants (at least where I live) are typically fried. When I worked as a banquet chef, we deep fried egg rolls and spring rolls. They came out about the same color no matter if we hand rolled them or bought them frozen. The point I am trying to make here is that preparation matters to presentation.
MOST of the frozen egg rolls I have purchased from places like Sam’s Club (and judging by the photo of your pantry, you spend a fair bit of time at Sam’s or WalMart purchasing grocery items) have directions on the back for baking or deep frying. Did this box only suggest baking?