Halifax Meat Paste Egg Rolls!
Egg roll styles are HIGHLY regional in Canada, with fillings AND roll styles varying. These “Meat Paste” Egg rolls are a Halifax specialty!
SO far, Newfoundland has been the most represented east coast province here on this blog, and in my Canadian cookbook, "More Than Poutine: Favourite Foods from my Home and Native Land".
I'd lived there for a time, honeymooned there, and generally see the province as being my favourite place on the planet, so... there may be some bias at play there!
Here on the blog, you can find Newfoundland recipes like my Partridgeberry Pie, Partridgeberry Wine, Sweet Mustard Pickles, and Gluten Free Cod au Gratin.
Newfoundland is the only province to have an entire chapter in More Than Poutine. Ooops. Yeah, bias!
Nova Scotia Recipes
When it comes to Nova Scotia, it has some great representation in More Than Poutine - there's all kinds of excellent food from that province: Blueberry Grunt, Cape Breton Pork Pies (Spoiler: Not pork!), Chicken Fricot, Chow Chow, Hodge Podge, Lobster Rolls, and more.
A few of the recipes have made it to the blog - Moon Mist Ice Cream, and Beep - A sugary juice drink I grew up on - for instance.
I even created a Vegan Donair Meat recipe, so my husband could enjoy the deliciousness. That one was wild - if I hadn't made it myself, I would never have pegged that as being a fake meat!
If you're interested in learning more about Nova Scotia food, be sure to check out Eat This Town, a food blog out of Nova Scotia. Their Iconic Foods of Canada - Nova Scotia post is a great start!
Today, I'm sharing my recipe for Halifax style "Meat Paste" egg rolls. Excuse the colour, I'd actually had to use ground chicken when photographing the recipe, as neither my husband or I could eat pork at the time!
First, a bit of information ...
Halifax Egg Rolls
Egg rolls are a funny thing in Canada - they vary wildly based on region.
In most places, they’re wrapped the way described here - and in my Reuben Poppers - rather than the burrito-style wrapping that is common in the USA. (Well, at least in Minnesota!)
In Ottawa, they’re cylindrical and mostly meat. One end is left open, and the meat spilling out gets very brown - those “burnt end” eggrolls are hugely popular!
In Halifax, it’s all about the meat paste egg rolls.
Sure, there’s a small amount of vegetable matter in there... but it’s dwarfed and enveloped by the star of the show - meat!
How to Assemble Halifax Style Egg Rolls
- Lay out an egg roll wrapper on your workspace. I like to cover my counter with parchment paper (for easier cleanup!), then lay out all 10 wrappers. Efficiency!
- Using a pastry brush (or just your fingers!), brush a bit of water around the entire edge of the wrapper – about a 1" border.
- Measure about ¼ cup of filling in the center of the wrapper.
- Fold the other side of the wrapper across the first side, effectively folding the sheet into thirds, while enclosing the filing.
- Gently squeezing air out as you work, press firmly down on all edges, to seal. Repeat for remaining filling / wrappers.
I'd done this for a few of the egg rolls, before remembering that I was thinking more Winnipeg (??) style - Halifax style doesn't tend to flip them.
Whoops. Old habits fie hard, I guess.
Including it here as a bit of an explanation for the differences in photos!
Baked Egg Rolls
While these are traditionally deep fried - and that’s what the recipe calls for - you can also make these as baked egg rolls.
To do so:
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, spray with nonstick cooking spray, Preheat oven to 375 F (190 C)
- Arrange egg rolls - seam side down - on baking sheet, brush with oil.
- Bake for 10 minutes.
- Flip egg rolls over, bake for another 10 minutes, or until crispy and golden.
How to Make Plum Sauce
It was always amazing to me, just how different “the basics” were, when living in the US.
In Minneapolis, the egg rolls were always served with “Duck Sauce”, which was similar to plum sauce, but.. Not quite.
In Canada, a lot of the plum sauce is produced by the same company who puts out the Honey Garlic Sauce - and others.
It actually involves a base of pumpkin puree, where many commercially available plum sauces outside of Canada don’t contain any pumpkin at all.
My recipe diverges slightly from source material in that I skipped the trace amounts of tomato and molasses - they just weren’t necessary, and over-complicated things.
This is a nice, clean tasting sauce. Very close to the source material, but fresher tasting. It’s great as a dip for egg rolls, chicken fingers, spring rolls, etc..
Plum Sauce Recipe
Makes about 1 cup
2 Plums
⅓ cup White vinegar
⅓ cup Granulated sugar
¼ cup Pumpkin puree
1 Tbsp Corn starch
2 tsp Lemon juice
¼ tsp Crushed chilies / red pepper flakes
¼ tsp Garlic powder
¼ tsp Ginger powder
Salt and pepper, to taste
Peel and chop plums, discard pits. Add plums to a food processor or blender along with remaining ingredients - except salt and pepper - process until very smooth.
Strain mixture through a wire strainer, stirring until only dry solids remain. Discard solids.
Transfer plum mixture to a medium saucepan, Bring to a boil, turn heat down to low, and gently simmer for 2 minutes.
Remove from heat, cool to room temperature. Season with salt and pepper to taste, cover, and chill until use.
This recipe is one of many fantastic Canadian recipes in my cookbook, "More Than Poutine: Favourite Foods from my Home and Native Land”.
"More than Poutine" is a Canadian cookbook like no other - written by a Canadian living away, it includes both traditional home cooking recipes, as well as accurate homemade versions of many of the snacks, sauces, convenience foods, and other food items that are hard to come by outside of Canada!
Order your copy here on this site, through Amazon, or through any major bookseller!
More Canadian Comfort Food!
Whether you’re a Canadian in the US or not, we could all use some comfort food these days. Here are some Canadian Favourites!
Beep
Clodhoppers
Confetti Bars
Dill Pickle Dip
French Canadian Pea Soup
Homemade Deep N Delicious Cake
How to Make Peameal Bacon and Back Bacon
Maple Butter Tarts
Persians Recipe
Poutine, My Way!
Puffed Wheat Squares
Tiger Tail Ice Cream
Looking for even more Canadian recipes? Check out our full Canadian Recipes list!
Share the Love!
Before you chow down, be sure to take some pics of your handiwork! If you instagram it, be sure to tag me - @CelebrationGenerationCA - or post it to My Facebook Page - so I can cheer you on!
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Well, the published nonsense, anyway!
Halifax Meat Paste Egg Rolls
Ingredients
- Vegetable canola, or peanut oil, for frying.
- 1 Tbsp Butter
- 1 Small Onion finely chopped
- ¾ cup Shredded Cabbage
- 1 Celery Rib finely chopped
- Salt
- 1 lb Ground Pork
- 2 Garlic Cloves pressed or minced
- 2 tsp Sesame Oil
- 1 tsp Freshly Grated Ginger
- ¼ tsp Crushed Chilies
- 2 Green Onions chopped
- Ground Black Pepper to taste
- 10 Egg Roll Wrappers
- Plum Sauce For serving
Instructions
- Heat oil to 375 F (190 C). You can use a deep fryer, or a heavy pot. If not using a deep fryer, use a deep, heavy pot, filled to at least 4" deep.
- In a large pan, melt butter. Add onion, cabbage, and celery, sprinkle with a little salt and saute until tender.
- Add ground pork, garlic, sesame oil, ginger, and chilies, stirring occasionally until pork is browned and cooked through, and liquid has all cooked off.
- Transfer pork mixture to a food processor, along with green onions, and blitz until very smooth. Season with salt and pepper to taste, set aside.
- Lay out an egg roll wrapper on your workspace. Using a pastry brush (or just your fingers!), brush a bit of water around the entire edge of the wrapper – about a 1" border. Measure about ¼ cup of filling in the center of the wrapper.
- Fold one side of the wrapper across the filling, to about ⅔ of the way across the wrapper. Fold the other side of the wrapper across the first side, effectively folding the sheet into thirds, while enclosing the filing.
- Gently squeezing air out as you work, press firmly down on all edges, to seal. Repeat for remaining filling / wrappers.
- Carefully place egg rolls - seam side down - in preheated oil. Fry, turning occasionally, until crispy and golden.
- Transfer to plate lined with paper towels, blot any excess grease before carefully transferring to serving plate.
- Serve hot, with plum sauce
Notes
Nutrition
Actually I think everyone is looking for eggs cooked Hallifax style. It was on Below Deck from Monday night.
That's ... Wild.
I looked it up, the timing matches!
Thank you!
I like meat paste that is darker in color I assume beef. Do you have a recipe for that. Today I thought I must look to see if there is a place I can buy the meat paste..I am in MA. Perhaps an Asian store. I had no idea that it was a Nova Scotia thing. God I miss meat paste egg roll s
You can just swap out for ground beef, same quantity,
Just letting you know why you probably have so much interest right now. The newest episode of Below Deck on Bravo, had a guest ask for Eggs Halifax so I think everyone that's watching is googling it to see what it is lol.
Haha that's awesome.
Thank you for taking the time to reply, and welcome! 🙂
Also, Dan Clapson of EatNorth was speculating on it after the episode. You might want to let him know.
Because I’m about to leave Halifax and I didn’t get any to take home on the plane lol