Bulletproof Takeout: How to Make Cassava Egg Rolls

Egg rolls taste delicious. But the crispy outside layer of the average egg roll, wheat flour cooked in peanut or canola oil, can rob you of your energy and leave you craving more kryptonite foods. Not very Bulletproof.

Luckily, we have cool friends. Nick Kowalski of Nicksfit.com formulated and tested this amazing Bulletproof Diet-friendly egg roll recipe and now it’s all yours. 

But first, more about the secret ingredient.

The key to Bulletproof egg rolls lies in a South American root that’s also a staple throughout Southeast Asia and parts of Africa. You know it best as the source of tapioca, but most folks around the planet call it cassava or yuca. Cassava feels and tastes like a potato, but it’s much lower in mycotoxins. It’s a great source of clean, starchy carbohydrates.

The Bulletproof Diet definitely values quality fats and protein over starchy carbs. But starchy vegetables still have a place in your diet. Loose guidelines would be to eat one serving of starchy carbs every day, increasing consumption 1-2 days per week.

Why?

Whole-food starches have nutritional benefits you won’t find in many other foods, including resistant starch and massive amounts of dietary fiber.

Adequate fiber intake diversifies your gut microbiome and makes for smooth sailing in the bathroom. Fiber consumption also links to heart health, balanced blood sugar, and keeping off extra pounds.^[1] Soluble fiber helps your gut bacteria produce more butyrate. Butyrate is a short-chain fatty acid that is a fuel source for the cells lining your gut. (Fun fact: butter is high in butyrate and even gets its name from the beneficial short-chain fatty acid.) Cassava is an excellent source of fiber, as are sweet potatoes, avocado, zucchini, celery and strawberries.

Resistant starches bypass digestion in your stomach and arrive relatively intact in your colon. There, they ferment, feeding the bacteria in your large intestine to create a more diverse and robust gut microbiome. Resistant starch improves insulin sensitivity,^[2] lowers glucose and insulin levels after meals^[3] and increases butyrate levels in the colon.^[4] Get all of Dave’s thoughts on resistant starch here.

Safety Tip: Only eat cooked cassava. Ingesting the raw tuber can be toxic.

To start you off right, here’s an amazing Bulletproof-approved recipe from Nick Kowalski of Nicksfit.com:

Bulletproof Cassava Egg Rolls

Ingredients:

For the rolls

• 3 cups fresh, chopped and boiled cassava/yucca (if you cannot find fresh yuca you can try substituting 3 cups cassava flour).
• ½ cup coconut oil
• ½ tsp. Himalayan pink salt or sea salt
• Bulletproof Grass-fed Ghee for frying

For the filling

• ½ pound grass-fed lamb or beef
• 2 cups shredded organic red cabbage
• 1 cup shredded organic carrots
• 4 tbsp. garlic coconut aminos
• 1 tsp. ground ginger
• 1 tsp. sea salt

Instructions:

1.     Preheat oven to 350° F
2.     Bring 1 large pot of filtered water to boil.
3.     Peel the skin of the cassava root and roughly chop.
4.     Place the chopped and peeled cassava in the boiling water and let boil for 20 minutes – they’re cooked fully when you can put a fork through them but are still firm.
5.     Remove the heat and strain.
6.     Add your cassava to a high-speed blender with oil and sea salt. Blend until a smooth, sticky, consistent dough is formed.
7.     Next, line a large baking pan with parchment paper – the bigger the pan the better.
8.     Pour your dough onto the parchment paper to cool for a couple of minutes, then using a rubber spatula, spread the dough out into a large square. You want the dough to be thin but not too thin.
9.     Once the dough has been spread, cook it in the oven at 350° F for 10-minutes – just enough to seal the surface but not enough to brown it – you want to be able to roll it.
10.  While the dough is cooking, prepare your filling by browning your meat in grass-fed ghee with added spices, coconut aminos and salt.
11.  Remove filling from heat and let cool. Meanwhile, you’ll need to keep an eye on the dough and remove it when it’s sealed to let cool. 
12.  While the dough cools, prepare your cast iron for frying the egg rolls by adding 2 tbsp. grass-fed ghee to a heated cast iron (may be more or less ghee, depending on the size of your pan.)
13.  Once the dough has cooled, slice it into 3×3 in squares.
14.  Add 1 spoonful of filling to your egg roll wrapper, start rolling and tuck the corners to enclose the edges.
15.  Lastly, fry your rolls in your heated skillet until they are golden brown on all edges – I suggest frying only a few at a time to keep them from sticking to one another.
16.  Serve with coconut aminos for a dipping sauce or with some cauliflower rice!

For more recipes from Nick (many are Bulletproof Diet-friendly!), check out The Gourmet Foodie, a cookbook featuring more than 100 meals using real, whole foods, medicinal herbs and expert cooking techniques.