Type | Chinese-American cuisine |
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Course | Hors d'oeuvre or side dish |
Place of origin | United States |
Created by | Undetermined. General belief is in New York City in the 1930s. Henry Low included an egg roll recipe in his 1938 book Cook at Home in Chinese. |
Main ingredients | Wheat pastry skin, cabbage, pork (or other meat) |
Egg roll | |||||||||||||||||
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Chinese | 蛋卷 | ||||||||||||||||
Literal meaning | "egg roll" | ||||||||||||||||
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The egg roll is a variety of deep-fried appetizer served in American Chinese restaurants. It is a cylindrical,savory roll with shredded cabbage,chopped meat,or other fillings inside a thickly-wrapped wheat flour skin,which is fried in hot oil. [1] The dish is served warm,and is usually eaten with the fingers,dipped in duck sauce,soy sauce,plum sauce,or hot mustard, [2] often from a cellophane packet. [3] Egg rolls are a ubiquitous feature of American Chinese cuisine.
The origins of the egg roll are unclear and remain disputed. Egg rolls are very similar to,but distinct from,the spring rolls served in mainland China,and were first seen in the early 20th century in the United States.
Andrew Coe,author of Chop Suey:A Cultural History of Chinese Food in the United States,has stated that the modern American egg roll was probably invented at a Chinese restaurant in New York City in the early 1930s,by one of two chefs who both later claimed credit for the creation:Lung Fong of Lung Fong's,or Henry Low of Port Arthur. According to Coe,Low's recipe,printed in a 1938 cookbook,Cook at Home in Chinese,included "bamboo shoots,roast pork,shrimp,scallions,water chestnuts,salt,MSG,sugar,palm oil,and pepper," but notably did not include cabbage,which is the main filling ingredient in modern egg rolls. [4]
Despite the name,egg rolls do not typically contain egg in the filling. [5] In addition to its disputed origin,it is unclear how the word "egg" appeared in the name,since the predominant flavor in American egg rolls is cabbage,not eggs. A 1979 article in The Washington Post speculated two possible theories:1) that the word for "egg" in Chinese,(蛋,Mandarin:dàn,Cantonese:daan6),sounded similar to the word for "spring",(春,Mandarin:chūn,Cantonese:ceon1),and 2) that southern Chinese chefs relied on using eggs when trying to make thin wrapper skin from flour and water. [6] Another possible origin of the name is from a recipe for "egg roll" (also labeled as "dan gun") in the 1917 cookbook The Chinese Cook Book by Shiu Wong Chan. This recipe called for meat and vegetables rolled inside a layer of fried egg rather than a flour-based wrapper. [7]
Nom Wah Tea Parlor in New York City claims the oldest or original egg roll. The restaurant has been in operation since 1920 and states they have been making their very large egg rolls using a thin omelette or 'egg crêpe' wrapper since 1929 (unlike modern variations which use a wheat dough wrapper). [8]
While there are many types of spring rolls native to East Asia and available in authentic Chinese,Thai,and Vietnamese restaurants in the United States, [9] American egg rolls are distinctive. [10] A typical "New York–style" egg roll measures approximately two inches in diameter by six inches in length,with a thick,chewy,crispy,bumpy exterior skin. [11] Egg rolls,like other Americanized Chinese food specialties, [12] may contain vegetable cultivars and flavor profiles that are not common in China, [13] including broccoli.
Restaurants that serve egg rolls occasionally also offer spring rolls as a separate menu option,and these spring rolls may be served with a cold filling wrapped in Banh trang rice paper wrappers (particularly at Vietnamese restaurants that serve both egg rolls and spring rolls as appetizers),or fried,as seen in some Thai and Chinese eateries. When fried,spring rolls served in Asian restaurants in the United States usually have a smaller diameter and a lighter,crispier skin made out of thinner sheets of wheat or rice dough. [14] [15] [16]
Rémoulade is a cold sauce. Although similar to tartar sauce, it is often more yellowish, sometimes flavored with curry, and often contains chopped pickles or piccalilli. It can also contain horseradish, paprika, anchovies, capers and a host of other items.
Popiah is a Fujianese/Teochew-style fresh spring roll filled with an assortment of fresh, dried, and cooked ingredients, eaten during the Qingming Festival and other celebratory occasions. The dish is made by the people and diaspora of Fujian province of China, neighbouring Chaoshan district, and by the Teochew and Hoklo diaspora in various regions throughout Southeast Asia and in Taiwan, The origin of popiah dates back to the 17th century.
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Noodle soup refers to a variety of soups with noodles and other ingredients served in a light broth. Noodle soup is a common dish across East Asia, Southeast Asia and the Himalayan states of South Asia. Various types of noodles are used, such as rice noodles, wheat noodles and egg noodles.
Fried noodles are common throughout East Asia, Southeast Asia and South Asia. Many varieties, cooking styles, and ingredients exist.
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A croquette is a deep-fried roll originating in the Mediterranean basin, consisting of a thick binder combined with a filling, which is then breaded. It is served as a side dish, a snack, or fast food worldwide.
Chả giò, or nem rán, also known as fried egg roll, is a popular dish in Vietnamese cuisine and usually served as an appetizer in Europe, North America & Australia, where there are large communities of the Vietnamese diaspora. It is ground meat, usually pork, wrapped in rice paper and deep-fried.
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Dumpling is a broad class of dishes that consist of pieces of cooked dough, often wrapped around a filling. The dough can be based on bread, wheat or other flours, or potatoes, and it may be filled with meat, fish, tofu, cheese, vegetables, or a combination. Dumplings may be prepared using a variety of cooking methods and are found in many world cuisines.
Lumpia are various types of spring rolls from China, Indonesia, and the Philippines. Lumpias are made of thin paper-like or crepe-like pastry skin called "lumpia wrapper" enveloping savory or sweet fillings. It is often served as an appetizer or snack, and might be served deep-fried or fresh (unfried). Lumpia are Indonesian and Filipino adaptations of the Fujianese rùnbǐng and Teochew popiah, usually consumed during Qingming Festival.
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Jiaozi are a type of Chinese dumpling. Jiaozi typically consist of a ground meat or vegetable filling wrapped into a thinly rolled piece of dough, which is then sealed by pressing the edges together. Finished jiaozi can be boiled, steamed, pan-fried, or deep-fried, and are traditionally served with a black vinegar and sesame oil dip. They can also be served in a soup.
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Lumpiang Shanghai is a Filipino deep-fried appetizer consisting of a mixture of giniling with vegetables like carrots, chopped scallions or red onions and garlic, wrapped in a thin egg crêpe. Lumpiang Shanghai is regarded as the most basic type of lumpia in Filipino cuisine, and it is usually smaller and thinner than other lumpia variants.
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