Spring rolls are fried pastries that can be found in several Asian countries, most notably China, Vietnam, the Philippines, and Indonesia . The Chinese Eggroll differs from the Chinese Springroll, however other cultures do not necessarily have both variants of the Eggroll or Springroll. However, since both the eggrolls and springrolls do use egg in its content, the word "Eggroll" isn't necessarily incorrect. Some spring/summer roll wrapper are made out of rice, as well as some egg roll wrapper is wheat-based. Some vary based on culture and individual choice. Spring rolls are usually eaten during the Spring Festival in China, hence the name. However, that does not necessarily apply to the other cultures who have their own version of the Eggroll/Spring Roll. This is why there is a confusion to the English translation of Spring Rolls/Egg Rolls/Summer Rolls.
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Variants of Asian Spring/Egg rolls
There are sweet spring rolls with red bean paste inside in Eastern China such as Zhejiang and Northern China. Vietnamese chả giò can not be seen as a variant of the Chinese Spring roll. At most Vietnamese restaurants, chả giò is translated in English as "Eggrolls". This isn't necessarily wrong, as both are fried and are made of egg. Also, certain cultures such as Filipinos and Vietnamese identify these rolls as "Eggrolls" when translated to English. In some restaurants, gỏi cuốn, a Vietnamese meal, is translated as "spring roll." Some people believe the correct translation is "summer roll." However, if gỏi cuốn is translated word for word, it translates to "SALAD ROLL." The salad roll is easily distinguished from a spring roll by the fact that it is not fried and that the ingredients used are different. Summer Roll or Spring Roll are variants of different cultures. Thai also have their own version of the Spring/Summer Roll. Shrimp rolls in Singapore are very small sized, with hot shrimp paste inside. In Australia, where there is a tradition of westernising Asian dishes, the Australian variant of the spring roll is popular. The spring roll's Australian counterpart is known as the Chiko Roll. See also Dim sim. Lumpia is the name for spring rolls in the Philippines and Indonesia. In the Netherlands and Belgium, spring rolls are known as Loempia.They are thought to have been introduced by immigrants from Indonesia. Loempia's are filled with Taugeh (mung bean, bean sprouts, chopped omelette, and sliced ham. In contemporary China, it is very rare to see spring rolls at restaurants since they have gradually reduced fried food. The spring rolls are more popular in Chinese restaurants in western countries because of its sweet and sour taste. It is also believed that the current taste has been changed from its origin to adopt to western taste.
Taiwanese Spring Roll
In Taiwan spring rolls are also eaten in a lot of variaties. First of all, we can divide it into fried version and non-fried version. A fried one is very common served year-round in Chinese restaurants. It is small, crispy and rolled with meat or sweet red bean paste. As for the non-fried one, it is much more complicated. The non-fried one is also called “Ruen Bieng” in Mandarin (or "Popiah" in the Hokkien and Chaozhou dialect), and it is a special food eaten by Min in spring on two different traditional festivals, either on “Cold Food Day”, or on “Tomb Sweeping Day.” Additionally, Some Hakkas have their spring rolls on March third in the lunar calendar. The reason why people have spring rolls on specific festivals is mainly showing our respects to our ancestors. For “Ruen Bieng”, there are two kinds of skins which roll the stuffing: one that is slowly heated until cooked is famous for being very thin; the other is baked. Furthermore, the way of cooking the stuffing is very different as well. In northern Taiwan, the stuffing is flavored, stir-fired, sometimes it goes with peanut powder, and the sauce is salty; while in Southern Taiwan, the stuffing is water-boiled or blanched without flavored, and then added with white sugar powder and peanut powder. For people who live in southern Taiwan, adding enough white sugar power is the key of spring rolls. Moreover, some people like to heat or steam the spring roll again after it is made. The stuffing itself is quite diverse among different places. The basic stuffing includes vegetables that grow in spring, meat, and sliced egg skin. In some places, they also add noodles, Chinese sausages, stewed vegetables instead of blanched ones, seafood, sticky rice, and etc. There are many different versions telling the origin of spring rolls. Even though many stories came from provinces in mainland China, each place has already developed and rolled its own characteristics into each spring roll among all those hundreds of years. Nowadays, the spring roll has become a local representative for different areas, since people tend to put the most typical food as stuffing, and even every family has created its special recipe for making spring rolls. The spring roll not only indicates historical meanings but also shows local spirit and strong mental connection between people and the places they live. Rolling spring rolls has turned into a traditional activity with a pleasant ambiance for family reunion, and meanwhile, offspring roll up the love and lessons from the elders before taking a bite of the spring roll.
