PITTSBURGH — Since it was introduced as an appetizer on New York City menus in the 1930s, perhaps no dish is more associated with Chinese-American food than the crunchy, humble egg roll.

Yet there is some confusion as to how the crispy rolls, which are served with hot mustard and a sweet-and-tangy condiment known as duck sauce, got their name.

Some believe it’s because the dish came to be made with egg-rich dough wrappers that blister when they’re fried while others say it’s because early iterations of the dish — including a recipe for “dan gun” in “The Chinese Cook Book” (1917) — were wrapped in a thin egg omelet that was then pan fried.

Typically filled with a savory mix of ground pork, water chestnuts, carrots, lots (and lots!) of shredded green cabbage and sometimes shrimp, egg rolls are a main attraction at Downtown’s Chinatown Inn, which has been owned and operated by actor Ming-Na Wen’s family since 1943.

In her new cookbook, “Have You Eaten Yet?: Family Recipes from a Restaurant Daughter,” Wen shows adventurous cooks just how easy the deep-fried appetizers are to make at home with a step-by-step pictorial. She also shares her family’s recipe for a meat, shrimp and veggie filling that includes an unexpected flavor enhancer — creamy peanut butter.

“No, peanut butter did not accidentally make its way into the recipe’s ingredient list,” she writes. “It’s the secret weapon to achieving the creaminess in the filling, and it gives the egg rolls a nice, subtly nutty flavor.”

Somehow, it just works. Not only does peanut help bind the ingredients together and make rolling easier, but it adds a richer mouthfeel.

Cook’s tip: While everyone loves digging into a fat egg roll, be careful not to overfill the wrappers (3 tablespoons is sufficient) or the dough might tear. And don’t forget to seal the edges with an egg wash or water. Otherwise, the oil could seep inside or cause the roll to pop open in the pan.

If you don’t feel like making duck sauce from scratch, jarred is fine! Same with the Chinese mustard.

The Best Egg Rolls

PG tested

For duck sauce and mustard

1 cup applesauce

⅓ cup apricot jam

2½ tablespoons white vinegar

3 teaspoons rice vinegar

1 teaspoon light soy sauce

½ teaspoon mushroom dark soy sauce

2 tablespoons Chinese mustard powder

For filling

3 teaspoons light soy sauce, divided

5 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided

1 tablespoon cornstarch, divided

¼ teaspoon mushroom dark soy sauce

1 pound ground meat (chicken, pork or turkey)

12 ounces large, raw shrimp, shelled and deveined

2½ teaspoons kosher salt

1 cup finely chopped yellow onion

2 cups fresh chopped cabbage

3 cups finely chopped celery

¼ teaspoon ground white pepper

½ teaspoon mushroom or vegetable bouillon powder

3 tablespoons creamy natural peanut butter, or other seed or nut butter

For egg rolls

16-ounce package egg roll wraps

1 large egg, beaten with 1 tablespoon water

2 or 3 cups vegetable or peanut oil, for frying

Make duck sauce: Mix applesauce, jam, white and rice vinegars and light and mushroom soy sauces in a medium-sized bowl. Refrigerate until ready to serve egg rolls.

Make mustard sauce by mixing 2 tablespoons Chinese mustard powder with 2 tablespoons water. Set aside

Make filling: In medium nonreactive bowl, combine 2 teaspoons light soy sauce, 1 teaspoon oil, ½ tablespoon cornstarch and mushroom dark soy sauce.

Add ground meat, mix well and set aside in the refrigerator.

Massage shrimp with the remaining ½ tablespoon cornstarch, then rinse well with cold water. Transfer to a bowl, add ½ teaspoon salt and marinate shrimp in the fridge for 15 minutes. Then chop the raw shrimp into small pieces.

Heat a large wok to high heat and add 2 tablespoons oil. Add seasoned ground meat and cook, stirring frequently, until meat is browned, about 5 minutes. Remove meat from wok and set aside.

Lower temperature to medium-high and add 2 more tablespoons oil. Add onion and cook, stirring constantly, until tender, 3-5 minutes. Add cabbage and celery, remaining 2 teaspoons salt, white pepper and mushroom powder. To keep vegetables on the drier side, spread them out in the wok to help the water evaporate.

Cook until vegetables begin to soften but are still crunchy, not wilted, about 5 minutes.

Turn off heat. Spread vegetables around side of wok, leaving the center open. Drizzle in peanut butter, spreading as evenly as possible over vegetables.

Return heat to medium-high and add remaining 2 teaspoons oil and the shrimp to center of wok. Cook shrimp, stirring constantly, until pink, 2-3 minutes. Then mix well with vegetables. Add cooked ground meat and mix well. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Assemble egg rolls: Place one egg roll wrapper with a corner pointing toward you. Add about 3 tablespoons filling to center, about 2 inches from corner. Roll the corner over the filled roll and gently tuck it under the filling, keeping gentle pressure so that the wrap will be tight.

Brush egg wash over edges and remaining unrolled parts of the wrapper. Fold corners over the top of stuffing, then continue rolling the wrapper toward the opposite corner. Place rolls on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper. Repeat with remaining wrappers and filling.

Heat 2 or 3 cups oil in wok over medium-high heat until temperature is 300-350 degrees.

Gently place, one at a time, 3 or 4 egg rolls into the hot oil to deep fry. Turn them once one side browns. Adjust oil’s temperature to maintain frying oil temperature. Remove egg rolls to a rack set over a sheet pan to drain oil.

Serve with duck sauce and Chinese mustard sauce.

Makes about 16 egg rolls.

— “Have You Eaten Yet?” by Ming-Na Wen (Simon Element, $35, Oct. 6, 2026)

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