Spring roll
Spring rolls are rolled appetizers or dim sum commonly found in Chinese, Vietnamese, Thai 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-fried or deep-fried.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 ancestors. The Hakka population sometimes also eats spring rolls on the third day of the third month of the lunar calendar. 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 in Mandarin or po̍h-piáⁿ 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 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 lunpia 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, or sometimes also minced meat. It is often served as an appetizer or snack, and might be served deep-fried or fresh. In Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand, it is called popiah as in Taiwan, while in Myanmar, it is referred as kawpyan.Cambodia
Cambodian fried spring rolls are called chai yor or naem chien. 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 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, nem cuốn, chả cuốn or Nem rán. 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.
| Region or Type | Header text |
| South of Vietnam | Chả giò |
| North of Vietnam | Nem |
| Rice paper roll not fried | Gỏi cuốn or |
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. However, the typical ingredients include slivers of cooked pork, shrimp, sometimes chicken or tofu, fresh herbs like basil or cilantro, lettuce, cucumbers, sometimes fresh garlic, chives, rice vermicelli, all wrapped in moistened rice paper. A typical "gỏi cuốn" may only contain boiled pork, boiled rice noodles, cucumber, carrot and herbs. Fresh Vietnamese rice paper rolls can be made at home or found at Vietnamese restaurants and some grocery stores. They are served at room temperature with dipping sauce. Nước chấm, tương xào, or a hoisin peanut sauce are all common dipping sauces. A typical hoisin dipping sauce includes chilli, hoisin sauce, peanut butter and sugar. A standard "nước mắm pha" dipping sauce is composed of fish sauce, lime, garlic, sugar, and chillies or simply fish sauce, sugar and vinegar.
Oceania
Australia
In Australia, a diverse range of authentic Asian cuisine is available due to immigration, multiculturalism, and the abundant fresh local produce. Both dim sims and Chiko Rolls 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.