Food worth tasting is what the Egg Roll Chick is all about

By Ginna Young

For Catherine VanDoorn – otherwise known as the Egg Roll Chick – if you’re going to do something, do it right. That’s where her motto comes in: food worth tasting, made with love.

She’s been in business in her location at the Holcombe strip mall, on State Hwy. 27, since just April 5, but already has outpaced the wildest of expectations. Even though she’s only open two days a week (Fridays, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.), Van-Doorn regularly sells out of stock.

“It’s turning into craziness,” she said. Some years ago, VanDoorn learned how to make egg rolls for which she is now famous, when she was working at a hospital and had a food wagon. At that time, she’d sell frozen egg rolls to her co-workers.

Flash forward, and VanDoorn and her husband opened a bar, but it didn’t take them long to realize that wasn’t for them and that they were missing out on time with their newly adopted son.

“We also realized people were coming in for the egg rolls,” said VanDoorn.

So, they purchased a food truck and VanDoorn became mobile, making egg rolls at home in the truck’s commercial kitchen. As her wares became more popular and well-known, VanDoorn longed to have a stable location to operate out of, which is what brought her to Holcombe.

“I needed to be able to have business hours,” she said.

With her husband originally from the area, and working between Eau Claire and Ashland, with his asphalt maintenance business, the location made sense. Both sets of parents of the couple are also in this area.

Although VanDoorn lives two hours away, she knew the Holcombe location was right for her, even though it was just an empty room when she walked in. However, it did have a closet, with a mop sink in it and a restroom.

“I said, we can work with this,” said VanDoorn.

After installing the needed electrical and plumbing, including a $15,000 steam vent hood, with one fryer, VanDoorn was ready for business.

She does have a couple friends and family members helping her out, now and then, but spends a lot of time on the business, even when she’s not open. Between shopping for ingredients and prep work, the endeavor takes a lot of time.

Prep and cooking days are Wednesdays and Thursdays, so while VanDoorn’s car may be parked in front of the shop, the door is locked.

Each weekend, VanDoorn averages selling about 1,200 egg rolls, both frozen and freshly made. That may change, as VanDoorn would like to transition to mostly frozen, since she can sell to bars and restaurants, with the license she has, but she’ll still make fresh egg rolls, ready-to-eat, as able.

There are no peanut products or eggs in VanDoorn’s egg rolls, which are fried in vegetable oil. In one hour, she can roll about 100 egg rolls, doing about five batches at a time, but with only one fryer, she can only cook 12 at a time. That doesn’t bother VanDoorn, as she doesn’t want a second fryer; a second fryer would take away from making sure each egg roll is perfectly browned and not burnt.

And when it comes to egg rolls, there is a large variety for people to try, including popper (bacon, cream cheese, jalapéno, cheddar cheese), Asian (pork sausage, cabbage, onion, rice noodles, carrots, spices), sweet buffalo chicken (shredded chicken, barbecue sauce, hot sauce, cheese), southwestern (refried beans, black beans, cheese, corn, green chilies, spices), reuben (corned beef, Swiss cheese, sauerkraut), pizza (Italian sausage, pepperoni, mozzarella cheese), crab rangoon (crab, cream cheese, green onions, oriental spices) and sweet potato, with caramelized onions, curry spices.

The Asian variety are especially different, thanks to VanDoorn’s experimenting with the fillings.

“I knew that I had to put something in there that everyone else wasn’t,” she said.

There are also flatbreads of spinach artichoke, smoked pulled pork, chicken parmesan and meaty marhgerita, as well as pizzas.

When someone takes egg rolls home to heat up, they need to cook them in an air fryer, at 350º F, for 15 minutes, or in an oven, at 400º F, for 20 minutes. For pizza, they can be baked at 425º F, for 12 minutes.

In addition, VanDoorn also sells Jolly Good soda at the shop, which many places don’t have, as well as 1919 root beer and sweetened chili sauce. That is served with the fresh egg rolls, but not with the frozen.

“So, people just buy bottles,” said VanDoorn.

The shop also features craft beer, in a four-tap keg, with varieties chosen by her husband.

“I’m kind of claiming that I’m the smallest craft beer bar in the state of Wisconsin,” said VanDoorn. “I have seven seats.”

If anyone wants to pre-order egg rolls or pizza, they can comment on a Facebook post from the business page or send a direct message through the Facebook page.

It’s ironic to VanDoorn, as she tried to obtain a grant to open Egg Roll Chick at the Holcombe mall, but was turned down for funding, when she was told it was too poor a location to be a viable business.

“And – they’re wrong,” said VanDoorn. “The community has supported me so much and we’re just thrilled to be here. To me, this is the perfect place.”