Spring rolls are rolled or dim sum commonly found in Chinese cuisine, Vietnamese, Thai cuisine and Southeast Asian cuisines. The kind of wrapper, fillings, and cooking technique used, as well as the name, vary considerably depending on the region's culture, though they are generally filled with vegetables and ground beef or pork.
Regional history
East Asia
Mainland China
Spring rolls are a
seasonal food consumed during the spring; it started as a pancake filled with the new season's spring vegetables, a welcome change from the preserved foods of the long winter months.
In
Chinese cuisine, spring rolls are savoury rolls with
cabbage and other vegetable fillings inside a thinly wrapped cylindrical pastry. They are usually eaten during the Spring Festival in mainland China, hence the name. Meat varieties, particularly
pork, are also popular. Fried spring rolls are generally small and crisp. They can be sweet or savoury, the former often with red bean paste filling, and the latter typically prepared with vegetables. They are fully wrapped before being
Pan frying or
Deep frying.
Non-fried spring rolls are typically bigger and more savoury. Unlike fried spring rolls, non-fried ones are typically made by filling the wrapping with pre-cooked ingredients. Traditionally, they are a festive food eaten during the Cold Food Day festival and the Tomb Sweeping Day festival in spring to remember and pay respect to ancestor worship. The Hakka people population sometimes also eats spring rolls on the third day of the third month of the lunar calendar (三月三 sān yuè sān). The wrappings can be a flour-based mix or batter.
Hong Kong and Macau
Spring roll is a fried dish usually available as a
dim sum.
[
] They typically contain minced pork, shredded
carrot,
bean sprouts and other vegetables served with
dipping sauce.
Taiwan
In
Taiwan, the most commonly eaten non-fried spring rolls are
popiah, called
rùn bǐng (潤餅) in
Standard Chinese or
po̍h-piáⁿ (薄餅) in Hokkien. In northern Taiwan, the ingredients are generally flavoured with
herbs,
stir-fried, and sometimes topped with a finely ground peanut powder before being wrapped. In southern Taiwan, the ingredients are generally boiled or blanched in plain water. Sometimes caster or super fine sugar is added along with the peanut powder before all the ingredients are wrapped.
Japan
In Japan, spring rolls are known as
harumaki (
春巻き) and are often served with
karashi mustard or soy sauce.
Southeast Asia
Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Thailand, and Singapore
Lumpia is the name for spring rolls in Indonesia
and the Philippines, which was derived from Southern Chinese spring rolls. The name
lumpia derives from
Hokkien language lunpia (poj=jūn-piáⁿ, lūn-piáⁿ) and was introduced in the Philippine islands during the 17th century.
It is a savoury snack made of thin crêpe pastry skin enveloping a mixture of savoury fillings, consisting of chopped vegetables (including carrots, cabbage, green beans, bamboo shoots, banana heart and leeks), or sometimes also minced meat (chicken, shrimp, pork or beef).
It is often served as an
appetizer or
snack, and might be served
deep-fried or fresh (unfried). In Malaysia, Singapore and
Thai cuisine, it is called
popiah as in Taiwan, while in
Burmese cuisine, it is referred as
kawpyan (ကော်ပြန့်).
Cambodia
Cambodian fried spring rolls are called chai yor () or naem chien (ណែមចៀន). Despite originating in the Chinese Cambodian community, fried spring rolls have spread throughout the country. They are different from Chinese spring rolls with their filling often not being cooked before frying, making Cambodian spring rolls lighter. Also,
fish sauce is usually used in the filling, instead of
oyster sauce or
soy sauce, and Cambodian spring rolls, if not reheated, are fried only once.
Vietnam
The fried version with minced pork or chicken is called imperial rolls or
chả giò (southern Vietnam),
nem cuốn,
chả cuốn or
Nem rán (northern Vietnam). They are often called "egg rolls" and "spring rolls" in Western countries, which is a misnomer. Central Vietnam has its own version of a fried roll called "ram". Ram is always made from whole shell-on shrimp or chopped de-shelled shrimp and some green onions, wrapped in rice paper wrappers and deep fried. Like most speciality food items from central Vietnam, ram is not widely available in Vietnamese restaurants overseas.
A Vietnamese imperial roll is different from a Chinese spring roll in that it is typically smaller and contains ground or chopped meats/seafood such as pork, crab, shrimp, chicken, taro or cassava, glass noodles, wood-ear fungi or oyster mushrooms, and shredded carrots. Rice paper is traditionally used as wrappers. However, several Vietnamese restaurants in Western countries may use egg spring roll wrappers due to the unavailability of rice paper or ease of use.
| + Vietnamese spring roll names |
|
| Chả giò |
| Nem |
| Gỏi cuốn or Bò bía |
Rice paper rolls or summer rolls are a Vietnamese delicacy known as "gỏi cuốn" or "nem cuốn". Depending on the region, salad rolls were made differently. Some vegetarian families make vegetarian rice paper rolls rather than meat rice paper rolls.
Oceania
Australia
In Australia, a diverse range of authentic
Asian cuisine is available due to immigration,
multiculturalism, and the abundant fresh local produce. Both
and
were inspired by Chinese spring rolls.
Small spring rolls that have either a vegetable filling, or a meat filling are a popular snack sold in many takeaway shops in Australia. Frozen spring rolls can also be purchased in supermarkets, to cook at home.
Australians also have their own version of a spring roll that can be found in many fish and chip shops in Australia and bought from a supermarket, which is the Chiko Roll. Rather than using pastry with a rolling technique, they have a more doughy texture.
Vanuatu
Spring rolls are a popular dish in modern Vanuatuan cuisine. Known as
nems, from the Vietnamese name via French, they are typically made with rice paper, stuffed with pork, chicken or beef, and deep-fried.
Europe
Germany, France and Poland
In Austria, Switzerland, and Germany, deep-fried spring rolls are called
Frühlingsrolle, while the Vietnamese salad rolls are called
Sommerrolle ("summer roll"). The French call them
nem for the fried ones and
rouleaux de printemps for the others, whereas in Poland, they are known as
sajgonki, named after
Saigon, the city from which many of the Vietnamese immigrants in Poland originated.
Netherlands and Belgium
In the
Netherlands and
Belgium, spring rolls are known as
loempia and are deep-fried or sometimes baked. They are thought to have been introduced by immigrants (including Chinese) from Indonesia, a former colony of the Netherlands. Loempias are filled with
, chopped
omelette, and sliced chicken or crab. It's also getting more common for loempias to appear with sweet and spicy sauces.
United Kingdom
In the United Kingdom spring rolls used to be, and sometimes still are, known as
pancake rolls, though these tend to be somewhat larger than those described as spring rolls.
Northern Europe
In the
Nordic countries, they are known as vårrullar/er (Swedish/Norwegian),
forårsruller (Danish), or kevätkääryle (Finnish).
North America
United States
Madison WI has a hyper-local variety of spring roll unique to the city. In Madison, spring rolls are often served in an extra large format weighing between 1–1.5 lbs.
These spring rolls, originally created by a Thai immigrant in 2006,
are stuffed with cabbage, cilantro, iceberg lettuce, jalapeños, avocado, cucumbers and rice noodles.
They can be found at numerous restaurants and food stalls in the city.
Latin America
Brazil
In Brazil, spring rolls are called either
rolinhos-primavera (), which is an approximate free translation from English, or as it is called in Japanese restaurants and among people who are used to the plate by the way it came to Brazil from Japanese immigrants,
harumaki (). They can be found mostly in Chinese restaurants, usually served with a
molho agridoce (sweet and sour sauce) to dip, usually bright red and hot, made with ketchup, vinegar, sugar and sometimes spices such as
star anise, which accompanies some other kinds of dishes, and can include onion and
sweet pepper. Some Japanese restaurants also serve spring rolls in Brazil, but generally plain or with soy sauce to dip (
molho agridoce is also available in some). They are also found in
buffet-like fast food restaurants, and can be called either by the Japanese or Brazilian Portuguese name, but most often the latter.
Chile
In Chile, spring rolls are called
arrollado primavera, and supermarkets, street vendors and Chinese restaurants sell them. (However, in other countries, "arrollado primavera" refers to a savoury pinwheel-type roll made with thin sponge cake and should not be confused with the Chilean version.)
Costa Rica
In
Costa Rica, spring rolls are called in Spanish
rollito de primavera ("little spring roll"), but are popularly known as "Taco Chino" and are offered in almost all Chinese restaurants as an entree or appetizer.
Mexico
In Mexico, spring rolls are called
rollos primavera (which translates directly to "spring rolls") and are sold in many Chinese restaurants and fast-food establishments accompanied with sweet and sour or soy sauces. On the northwest border with the US, especially in Mexicali, Baja California, the spring rolls are known as
chunkun; this name could be related to the Korean chungwon (춘권). They are deep-fried and usually served with ketchup topped with a dot of hot mustard as a dipping sauce.
Argentina and Uruguay
In
Argentina and
Uruguay, spring rolls are commonly known as
empanaditas chinas (Chinese turnover) and also
arrolladitos primavera (which translates directly to "spring rolls"), and supermarkets and Chinese restaurants sell them. They are a common treat carried by catering services and are usually served with a small bowl of sweet and sour sauce to dip them in.
Venezuela
In
Venezuela, spring rolls are called
lumpia as in the
Philippines and
Indonesia. Many Chinese restaurants sell them, and they are usually served with sweet and sour or
soy sauce.
See also
