The spring roll is a common sight on Chinese dinner tables during Lunar New Year celebrations because its golden-brown exterior and shape mean it is taken to resemble a gold bar, although it is eaten year round.
The unassuming fried treat has worldwide appeal: so ubiquitous is the spring roll on takeaway menus in the United States – where sometimes it is referred to as an egg roll – that some believe it to be an American-Chinese invention. In fact, the spring roll has a history in China going back several centuries.
Its name hints at the time of year it was mostly eaten. The spring roll’s name in Mandarin, chunjuan, refers to spring the season; as for its history, it was mentioned by the Tang dynasty (618-907) poet Du Fu and referred to in The Shoufu, a Yuan dynasty (1271- 1368) compilation of stories.
Early iterations of the spring roll were not fried golden brown as they are today; rather, it consisted of fresh herbs and vegetables associated with the spring harvest, loosely wrapped in thin pancakes.
Typically, the rolls would be made to welcome the advent of the Spring Festival, as Lunar New Year is also called, and constituted part of a “spring platter” that was decorated with auspicious ornaments and given as a gift to friends and family.
