What are egg rolls?

[Jason Perlow]

I actually saw "Cajun Spring Rolls" being made on an episode of "Campfire Cafe". It had pork andouille sausage, monterrey and cheddar cheese, bell pepper, onion, cabbage and spinach in it.

http://www.campfirecafe.com/Series4Recipes...SpringRolls.htm

[Singapore]

Lessee, filling for egg rolls consists of cabbage, celery, chinese vegetable, and sometimes scallions, all chopped and pre-cooked. Season with salt, white pepper, and MSG. Drain thoroughly before you season.

Take an egg roll wrapper and lay it so that corners are at the 12, 3, 6, and 9 o'clock position. Take a handful of the vegetable mixture and place in center, horizontally (about 1" by 3"). Add in minced pork (usually colored red), roast pork strips, scrambled egg. Bring the 6 o'clock corner up overlapping the center, then fold in the 9 and 3 o'clock corners over the center. Bring the 12 o'clock flap down and around until you have a cylindrical roll. Use egg wash or water to glue the last flap down.

Get oil hot, deep fry until light brown. Take out and drain and let cool. When you're ready to serve, pop back into hot oil until it's brown like in Jason's picture.

Fillings may change to suit the head cook. Sometimes instead of roast pork, small cooked shrimps are added instead.

And that's an egg roll.

By the way, egg roll parties are cool. Everyone rolls their own and you have a battery of fryers going. No smoking, tho. Cigarettes and deep fat fryers are a bad mix.

Edited July 7, 2004 by Singapore (log)

[herbacidal]

But on the east coast (of America) egg rolls and spring rolls appear on the same menus. Spring rolls have the thin crispy skin (as in Gary Soup's picture), while egg rolls have a chewier, crunchy, skin with that bubbly texture on the outside.

I don't recall seeing that out here, but it makes a certain amount of sense, if you want to serve two masters. If you make that distinction, I'd say that "egg rolls" are definitely more American than Chinese.

I'll agree with that. My Chinese restaurant experience agrees with that. My Chinese takeout place experience also agrees with that.

Singapore gives a very good description of the egg roll making process. The only thing I'd add is to keep the filling as compact as possible before folding the flaps over.

On the face, the chiko rolls appear to be very much like the rolls described by Miss Crepe and Jon Tseng. I don't remember what those rolls are made from, but do vaguely recall "egg roll" being on the container in some form.

Edited July 7, 2004 by herbacidal (log)

[Laksa]

On the face, the chiko rolls appear to be very much like the rolls described by Miss Crepe and Jon Tseng.  I don't remember what those rolls are made from, but do vaguely recall "egg roll being" on the container in some form.

The most fascinating thing I find about the chiko roll is that it is marketed and perceived as an entirely Australian food. It is not sold in any Chinese restaurants in Australia, as far as I know, but in typical Australian "milk bars" (equivalent to delis here), and in fish and chip shops (equiv. to a fast food/hamburger joint), along with classic Aussie cuisine like meat pies, sausage rolls, pasties (not what you stick on your body, but the Cornish variety) and fish cakes.

Edited July 7, 2004 by wongste (log)

[bilrus]

I actually saw "Cajun Spring Rolls" being made on an episode of "Campfire Cafe". It had pork andouille sausage, monterrey and cheddar cheese, bell pepper, onion, cabbage and spinach in it.

http://www.campfirecafe.com/Series4Recipes...SpringRolls.htm

Black beans and chicken make this a "Southwest egg roll" - pretty good stuff IMO.

In my experience the difference between egg rolls and spring rolls is that spring rolls are made with a rice paper wrap, while egg rolls are made with a wonton-type wrapper. Lots of cabbage is also a characteristic of most egg rolls.

[LittleMissCrepe]

Aren't there also those sweet biscuit things you get in tins.  Look like long, thin cigars.  Baked egg-enriched pastry.  Thoughts those were egg rolls to

J

I've seen those referred to as "love letters" also.

Do Love Letters refer just to the brown variety that are lined with chocolate on the inside? That was always my impression, while just plain "egg rolls" are the yellow kind without chocolate.

[Laksa]

Aren't there also those sweet biscuit things you get in tins.  Look like long, thin cigars.  Baked egg-enriched pastry.  Thoughts those were egg rolls to

J

I've seen those referred to as "love letters" also.

Do Love Letters refer just to the brown variety that are lined with chocolate on the inside? That was always my impression, while just plain "egg rolls" are the yellow kind without chocolate.

Oh, that explains why whenever I asked for love letters, they give me those with the annoying chocolate coating, which I had to nibble around. I'll ask for egg rolls next time...

[Dejah]

Yet another opinion on egg rolls

In the late 50s, my mom made "egg rolls' by making very thin crepes with beaten up eggs in an 8 inch frying pan. These were cooled and stacked in the fridge.

For the filling, she used shredded cabbage, bean sprouts (which she sprouted herself in big metal cans), canned sliced mushrooms, shredded celery and Spanish onion. Meat was not added because of the cost. She used to, as I did in recent years, cook all this mixture in 24" woks. After cooking and draining off most of the liquid, the mixture was thickened with a cornstarch slurry. The filling was left to cool then stored in the fridge. This stuff weighed a ton!

Everyday, we'd roll egg rolls for each day's use. When there was an order, mom would dip the egg rolls in a light batter then deep fry. I can't remember the batter recipe. I think this method was from my older brother from Seattle.

In later years when commercial egg roll wrappers became available, we still made the filling the same way. The egg rolls we wrapped were as Ben described, cylindrical with pinched ends rather than tucked in. The kitchen staff would make about 100, lightly deep fry them, cooled then refidgerated. They were deep-fried again just before serving. Plum sauce was the dipping sauce used.

We used lumpia wrappers for Vietnamese spring rolls. The filling is different...mainly bean sprouts, bean thread and julienne carrots. These were wrapped as Singapore described. We found these must be rolled as they were ordered, otherwise, the wrapper became soggy and all hell broke loose when they were immersed in hot oil.

I use rice wrappers for summer rolls. These are not deep fried. I usually use julienned cucumber, carrot, green onions and crab meat or smoked fish as filling. Sometimes I add bean thread stir-fried quickly with soya sauce for a different flavour and texture.

Fish sauce with chopped fresh chili is my fav. dip for the spring and summer rolls.

[Jeannie]

Wow! I just logged on and I can't believe there are so many replies!

Thanks everyone.

Now, er... whats mushu pork?

Heard the dragon in Mulan say it and I don't think I've ever seen it on a menu in the UK either.

[Jason Perlow]

Wow!  I just logged on and I can't believe there are so many replies!

Thanks everyone.

Now, er... whats mushu pork? 

Heard the dragon in Mulan say it and I don't think I've ever seen it on a menu in the UK either.

Moo-Shu pork is a dish of shredded pork stirfried with shredded chinese cabbage, black fungus and other vegetables in a hoisin-based sauce. These are wrapped in flour pancakes similar to a mexican tortilla with more hoisin sauce applied.

http://www.szechuan-restaurant.com/menus/pics/401b.gif

One of my favorite chinese dishes if done properly.

[Laksa]

Wow!  I just logged on and I can't believe there are so many replies!

Thanks everyone.

Now, er... whats mushu pork? 

Heard the dragon in Mulan say it and I don't think I've ever seen it on a menu in the UK either.

Look what you did!

And yet you ask again about mushu pork?

[Jeannie]

Wow!  I just logged on and I can't believe there are so many replies!

Thanks everyone.

Now, er... whats mushu pork? 

Heard the dragon in Mulan say it and I don't think I've ever seen it on a menu in the UK either.

Look what you did!

And yet you ask again about mushu pork?

I know! I did hesitate before I posted but these are important questions that have been bothering me for years. You hear them mentioned in relation to chinese food in American films, tv programmes and books so often and they've always puzzled me. This forum is just the perfect opportunity to get all these questions answered!

I wasn't sure whether they were chinese-american food or as China is so big they could be just from another region in China for all I know.

[Hest88]

Oh, I have fond memories of mu-shu pork. I never liked the filling, though, so I'd just eat the crepe thing. It's too bad; so many restaurants nowadays just use tortillas. I really miss those authentic wrappers.

[Gary Soup]

Now, er... whats mushu pork? 

Heard the dragon in Mulan say it and I don't think I've ever seen it on a menu in the UK either.

All I know is that muxu rou (木須肉) always struck me as odd -- kind of "yuxiang rousi meets Peking duck leftovers". I have no idea as to its origins.

Next, you'll be on to "What's mu gu gai pan?"

Did these dishes become popular because they were fun to say and easy to remember?

[hzrt8w]

In my experience the difference between egg rolls and spring rolls is that spring rolls are made with a rice paper wrap, while egg rolls are made with a wonton-type wrapper.  Lots of cabbage is also a characteristic of most egg rolls.

I believe Cantonese spring rolls use wheat-flour wrapper. The difference between spring-roll wrapper and wonton wrapper is that wonton wrapper uses eggs (thus the yellow color).

The Vietnamnese spring rolls use rice paper wrapper.

When I make egg rolls, I make sure that the fillings are dry and cold. If the fillings are juicy, it will make the spring rolls very soggy when deep-fried. I make sure that the skin will turn out crispy and shinny for better presentation effects. As for the condiment, I use soy sauce and hot chili sauce, perhaps hot mustard as well. The ingredients for the fillings: shredded pork (or chicken), shredded bamboo shoots, black mushrooms (thinly sliced).

I have no idea why some likes to dip the rolled-up spring rolls into a batter before deep-frying. To me it seems so unnecessary.

Edited July 7, 2004 by hzrt8w (log)

[hzrt8w]

Next, you'll be on to "What's mu gu gai pan?"

Did these dishes become popular because they were fun to say and easy to remember?

Yeah, add to the list:

What's Egg Fu Young?

What's Kung Pao chicken?

What's Pong-Pong chicken?

What's YuXiang RouXi?

These names sound so foreign (perhaps quite funny) to non-Chinese speaking eaters...

Ants Climbing on Tree... Phoenix claws... Cloud ears...

[Dejah]

Why do some restaurants call deep fried wontons "bon bons"?

How about almond gai ding?

[stephenc]

Next, you'll be on to "What's mu gu gai pan?"

Did these dishes become popular because they were fun to say and easy to remember?

Yeah, add to the list:

What's Egg Fu Young?

What's Kung Pao chicken?

What's Pong-Pong chicken?

What's YuXiang RouXi?

These names sound so foreign (perhaps quite funny) to non-Chinese speaking eaters...

Ants Climbing on Tree... Phoenix claws... Cloud ears...

Egg foo young is an omelette

Kung Bao chicken is a spicy chicken dish with peppers and peanuts.

Yu Xiang Ro Xi is a moderately spicy stirfried dish using pork, mushrooms, and a whole bunch of other stuff.

bang bang chicken is boiled chicken with green onions served with sesame oil, soy sauce and hot sauce.

[hillvalley]

Don't forget another great Chinese American invention.

The fortune cookie

I am craving an egg roll now

[SobaAddict70]

You haven't had egg rolls until you've had them stuffed in tofu skins and deep fried.

I think I'll stick with egg rolls made the traditional way -- like in Jason's photo.

Soba

[Gary Soup]

Don't forget another great Chinese American invention.

The fortune cookie

It was actually a Japanese invention.

The Fortune Cookie

[Gary Soup]

Yet another opinion on egg rolls

In the late 50s, my mom made "egg rolls' by making very thin crepes with beaten up eggs in an 8 inch frying pan. These were cooled and stacked in the fridge.

Sue-On, that's very interesting and suggestive. Do you know if the practice (using egg crepes) was widespread in the 50's in North American Chinese restaurants? If so, you've solved the mystery of why they're called "egg rolls!"

I'd say you'd deserve a Nobel Prize for that discovery.

[Fred12fred]

My wife also makes the egg jiaozi (dan jiao) at New Years, and also to serve with hot pot. It's quite labor intensive, considering that each tiny "omelette" is made from about 1/10th of an egg.

She also makes literal egg rolls (dan juan) which consist of minced pork and shrimp rolled up in a thin omelette skin and steamed. I've seen a similar dish called "The Dragon" described in a book on classical Chinese cuisine.

Of course, "Egg Roll" is the American term for Spring Roll (chun juan). They are definitely Chinese in origin, though there are Americanized versions (like the ones in Jason's photos). The ones my wife and her family make look just about like the picture below. They're a bit larger than what the Filipinos call "Shanghai Lumpia" but not as big as most Chinese-American versions.

Sigh...this is what my mom used to make when I was growing up...I need to take a trip home...

Just to confuse everyone, we would call these chun juan in Chinese, but egg rolls in English...

But, now that I'm reading this thread, my experience outside the home parallels the others, where egg roll would mean the chimichanga-type and spring roll the "real" (to me at least) type

[tommy]

Have you ever tried frying a roll wrapped with the thicker egg roll wrapper without egg washing it? It just doesn't look or taste right.

you have just solved a mystery that has been bothering me for years. i can't believe it was that simple all along.

[Mayhaw Man]

I actually saw "Cajun Spring Rolls" being made on an episode of "Campfire Cafe". It had pork andouille sausage, monterrey and cheddar cheese, bell pepper, onion, cabbage and spinach in it.

http://www.campfirecafe.com/Series4Recipes...SpringRolls.htm

Campfire Cafe

Mrs. Lucy

Jason, you watch all of the classics. Do you get them on PBS or somewhere else.

"Now we'll just add in our pineapple. Put the lid on the old dutch oven, and layer on our coals. We just hang it back on the hook and we'll move on to our Campfire Baked Alaska."

I love Campfire Cafe.

We occasionally make the egg roll recipe out of Craig Claiborne and Virginia Lee's Chinese Cookbook (a seriouly great cookbook) and while they are a chore, they are very good. A great example of the style and they look much like the ones that Jason was touting.