Stuffing Bread Rolls Are A Twist On David Chang's Favorite Childhood Food - Exclusive

With Thanksgiving right around the corner, you might be running around trying to put together the perfect menu. You've got turkey, stuffing, some potatoes and gravy, and there may even be a green vegetable or two. You're all set for the big day — but what about the day after? Some would argue that Thanksgiving leftovers are almost as important as the feast itself. In fact, over 70% of Americans plan their Thanksgiving with the sole intention of having leftovers the next day (via SWNS Digital). But which foods will actually be left? 

Will there be enough turkey for that perfect sandwich? What about all those extra greens and potatoes? While you could simply recreate last night's dinner, David Chang told us in an exclusive interview that he likes "to do something different with the leftovers, other than the sandwich and other than making a turkey soup or turkey pot pie." Instead, he prefers to make turkey noodles or a crispy Thanksgiving roll-up.

While both make great leftover options, the roll-ups are the ideal finger food for gameday, which works out perfectly since there also happens to be a football game scheduled the day after Thanksgiving this year — a game where Chang will be working with the Thursday Night team to bring you these tasty tidbits. Whether it's just you and your family or a house full of people watching the big game, these little roll-ups are guaranteed to satisfy even the pickiest guest. But ease of snacking wasn't where Chang got the idea — he explained he took inspiration from one of his childhood Thanksgiving favorites.

"My Thanksgivings growing up were the best, because it was literally a smorgasbord of the most delicious things," David Chang told us. "But of all the delicious things ... the thing that we all universally loved were these shrimp rolls." While he was never sure what his mother put inside each little roll besides shrimp, celery, and mayonnaise, he knew he loved them and wanted to create something that "scratches this itch of nostalgia."

He could have just recreated her shrimp rolls, but Chang thought Thanksgiving leftovers would be the perfect substitute since those leftovers are really only good for another day or two. For that, he had to think about which dishes are usually left. "Stuffing gets eaten almost immediately, by far, because it's always the winner," he explained. "It's usually the sautéed green or whatever you have that's a vegetable, that's not a root vegetable, and mashed potatoes, because for whatever reason, people aren't into leftover mashed potatoes. I'm not making a shepherd's pie, as much as I love it," he added emphatically. 

He likes these rolls because they're "a little bit different." While he wishes the rolls were bigger and could fit more stuff inside, he said you don't have to stick with mashed potatoes and greens like he did. "You could put turkey, you could put ham, you could put anything in there, even sweet stuff."

You can see Chef Chang share his recipe for these Crispy Thanksgiving Roll-ups on Prime Video on Black Friday when the New York Jets take on the Miami Dolphins.