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How to become the fastest egg roll wrapper in Wisconsin


By Yia Lor | January 27, 2025

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  • Some of the hundreds of egg rolls writer Yia Lor of Eau Claire made with her niece. (Photo by Yia Lor)

Some of the hundreds of egg rolls writer Yia Lor of Eau Claire made with her niece. (Photo by Yia Lor)

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Cooking — and eating — traditional family dishes can often be the highlight of a person’s year. For writer Yia Lor of Eau Claire, that beloved dish that she looks forward to making is egg rolls.

She shared a story about her love of wrapping the crunchy snack at a live storytelling event hosted by Wisconsin Public Radio’s “Wisconsin Life” and the Chippewa Valley Writers Guild. It was held on Nov. 14, 2024 in Eau Claire, Wisconsin at The Lakely.

Writer Yia Lor of Eau Claire, Wisconsin shares a story about egg rolls on stage at The Lakely in Eau Claire, Wisconsin on November 14, 2024. The storytelling event was hosted by WPR's "Wisconsin Life" and the Chippewa Valley Writers Guild. (Rich Kremer/WPR)

Writer Yia Lor of Eau Claire, Wisconsin shares a story about egg rolls on stage at The Lakely in Eau Claire, Wisconsin on November 14, 2024. The storytelling event was hosted by WPR’s “Wisconsin Life” and the Chippewa Valley Writers Guild. (Rich Kremer/WPR)

Once a year or twice if we were lucky my parents would set aside a whole day to make egg rolls. At least a crispy hundred or two. All six kids would gather around the kitchen table where my parents took turns mixing bean thread noodles, pork, shredded cabbage and carrots, and bits of cilantro and onion. When the mixture was perfect, there was the tedious task of wrapping, and despite our pleas, only my parents were allowed to wrap. They couldn’t afford to have egg rolls with too much air or torn wraps go into the fryer for those would burst open and ruin the oil.

As I got older, my parents stopped making egg rolls because of how time consuming it was, from boiling the noodles and preparing the vegetables to carefully wrapping and deep frying every single one. That’s not all though. In the middle of wrapping and frying, someone had to make the peanut sauce, and no one could ever remember where the peanuts were.

Egg rolls were one of my favorite childhood snacks, so I eventually picked up the tradition of making them at least twice a year —  three times if we were lucky. Without fail, I always selected the hottest days of the year, and despite the groans, my family pitched in.

Writer Yia Lor of Eau Claire, Wisconsin peels carrots as her curious nephew observes. (Photo by Yia Lor)

Writer Yia Lor of Eau Claire, Wisconsin peels carrots as her curious nephew observes. (Photo by Yia Lor)

As the years went on though, people moved away, got busy with school and jobs, and had to tend to children. I would show up to my parents’ home with all the ingredients only to find myself wrapping on my own and even deep frying too. In time, I found my own rhythm and became the fastest wrapper in my family, averaging two egg rolls every minute. I could single-handedly produce a hundred, sometimes even two hundred.

During one of the times, my five year old niece proudly announced she was helping, too. I was hesitant for all the reasons my parents did not let me wrap growing up. My niece was eager to learn though, and I could use another set of hands. After teaching her how to scoop the perfect amount of mixture, we practiced folding in corners, gently squeezing to release air bubbles, and sealing to ensure nothing came undone. We made a few before I let her continue on her own. As she attempted to fold and roll, I caught her looking at my hands producing one egg roll after another.

Writer Yia Lor (r) of Eau Claire, Wisconsin shares a story about egg rolls on stage at The Lakely in Eau Claire, Wisconsin on November 14, 2024. Musician Derick Black (l) played guitar between storytellers. The storytelling event was hosted by WPR's "Wisconsin Life" and the Chippewa Valley Writers Guild. (Rich Kremer/WPR)

Writer Yia Lor (r) of Eau Claire, Wisconsin shares a story about egg rolls on stage at The Lakely in Eau Claire, Wisconsin on November 14, 2024. Musician Derick Black (l) played guitar between storytellers. The storytelling event was hosted by WPR’s “Wisconsin Life” and the Chippewa Valley Writers Guild. (Rich Kremer/WPR)

I leaned over and whispered, “Guess who’s the fastest egg roll wrapper.”

My niece answered, “Grandma.”

I shook my head and pointed to myself. “Tais Yia.”

“How did you get so fast?” she asked.

“I’ve had many years of practice,” I responded.

There was a pause. “How old were you when you first started wrapping?”

I thought about it. “Probably in my early 20s.”

My niece marveled. “I’ll be faster than you someday, Tais Yia, because I started when I’m five.”

My niece has helped me wrap almost every single batch I’ve made since. Together, we discovered how to make extra crunchy egg rolls by double wrapping. One time, my niece proudly handed me an egg roll that she had triple wrapped, and indeed, it was the crunchiest. We’ve made egg rolls in the shapes of squares and triangles. We’ve also invented a game where we stuff a few egg rolls with a large chunk of carrot. Winner bites the crunch.

Yia Lor hides a large chunk of carrot in an egg roll she wraps. Whoever finds it first, "Winner bites the crunch." (Photo by Yia Lor)

Yia Lor hides a large chunk of carrot in an egg roll she wraps. Whoever finds it first, “Winner bites the crunch.” (Photo by Yia Lor)

Someday, I look forward to my niece surpassing my record of being the fastest egg roll wrapper. Maybe she’ll start a tradition of making egg rolls at least three times a year.

If we’re lucky, four.

==

After writer Yia Lor shared her story live on stage at The Lakely, WPR “Wisconsin Life” host Maureen McCollum talked with her about the essay.

This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.

Maureen McCollum: In the time you’ve been working on “Wisconsin Life,” you’ve written a lot about your family. Most of us have a lot of stories involving family, food and our own traditions. So why was it important for you tonight to talk about this food tradition with your family?

Yia Lor: Some of my favorite memories of my childhood are around the kitchen table. How many of you loved the kitchen table as a kid, right? You didn’t really have to cook a whole lot or clean a whole lot, hopefully.

For my family I grew up in poverty and we didn’t really celebrate Christmas. But, egg roll days were kind of like our Christmas days. They didn’t happen very often, maybe once or twice a year. So when we celebrated it, it was a really big deal.

I wanted to share this story, too, because my niece, who’s in the story, she is the daughter of my sister who passed away earlier this year. I was reflecting on some of the times that my sister had before she died. The last thing we made together was egg rolls. I think had I known that, I would have probably made another hundred or two with my sister.

Egg rolls created by Yia Lor and her niece. (Photo by Yia Lor)

Egg rolls created by Yia Lor and her niece. (Photo by Yia Lor)

To hear all the Chippewa Valley writers’ stories from the live storytelling event, check out the full collection at “Wisconsin Life” Live from the Chippewa Valley.

Yia Lor headshot

Yia Lor

Yia Lor is a storyteller and writer from Eau Claire. She shares her time with her family, three pups, yoga mat, and 50+ houseplants.
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