Spring rolls, also known as spring pancakes, pancakes. It is a traditional food for Han Chinese folk festivals. Currently popular in all parts of China, especially in Jiangnan and other places. In addition to being eaten by their own families, they are often used to treat guests.

Long history, evolved from the ancient spring cake. According to the ancient book Chen Yuanliang's "Years and Seasons Guangji", "In the spring, eat spring cake, lettuce, called spring plate." The Qing Dynasty's "Yenching Yearly Records" also has: "Playing spring, is the day the rich families eat more spring cakes."

See the spring to do spring cakes, eating spring cakes of folk customs and styles from a long time ago. Now there are many proverbs about spring rolls, such as "a roll is not spring", "Longsheng Hall spring rolls --- inside and outside is not a person" and so on, the meaning of spring here is spring, there are spring celebrations of auspicious signs.

Customs:

Spring rolls are filled with dry dough, fried and deep-fried. It evolved from the custom of eating spring plate on the day of spring.

According to the Jin Zhou "land and customs": "New Year's Day to make five Xin plate", that is, five kinds of pungent vegetables, for people to eat in the spring, so it is also known as the "spring plate".

Tang, its content has developed and changed, "four times the treasure mirror" said: "spring day, food rutabaga, spring pancakes, lettuce, spring plate." After the development of increasingly exquisite, to the late Yuan Dynasty, there have been on the filling fried spring rolls recorded.

The Yuan Dynasty Anonymous compilation of the "home must use the whole collection of things" recorded "rolled pancakes": "thin pancakes, to walnut kernels, pine nuts, peach kernels, hazelnut, young lotus meat, dried persimmons, cooked lotus root, ginkgo, cooked chestnut, bar elemi, the above, except chestnut yellow slices cut are cut fine, with honey, sugar frosting and, with crushed mutton, ginger, and then, the spring rolls, the spring rolls. Add minced mutton, minced ginger, salt, onion and mix for filling, rolled into pancakes, blanched in oil."

This is the early spring roll method. A similar account is found in the Ming Dynasty cookbook Yi Ya Yi Yi (易牙遗意).

The name of spring rolls already appeared in the Qing Dynasty. Although still named "spring pancake", the original text of which reads:

"Dry noodle skin wrapped with ham, chicken and other things, or seasonal vegetables, deep-fried for guests. Also, salted pork loin, garlic flowers, black dates, walnut kernels, foreign sugar **** chopped, rolled spring pancakes cut sections. Single-use peeled persimmon cake pounded, add cooked salted meat, fat strips, spread spring rolls for small rolls, cut sections. Single use peeled persimmon cake cut strips for rolls can also be."

There are three methods of production, both filling (salty, sweet are) and roll, is a typical spring roll shape and method, and today's spring rolls are very similar.

Historical development:

Spring rolls have a long history in China, also known as "spring cake" in the north. It is rumored to have been in the Eastern Jin Dynasty, then called "spring pan". At that time, people every spring this day, will be made of flour pancakes spread in the plate, plus fine vegetables to eat, so called "spring plate". At that time, not only the spring of this day to eat, spring tour people also bring "spring plate".

By the time of the Tang and Song dynasties, this custom was even more prevalent. The famous poet Du Fu's "spring spring plate of fine lettuce" and Lu You's "spring spring plate of new festivals" poems, are a true reflection of the people of the Tang and Song dynasties this custom of life. In the Tang Dynasty, the spring plate is also called the five Xin plate.

Wu Zimu of the Song Dynasty described it in "Dream Liang Records" as "Changshu patty cake, wonton tile bells, spring cake, vegetable cake, round soup." By the Qing Dynasty, rich families or families of the common people also ate a lot of spring cakes.

Ming Dynasty Li Shizhen said: "to onions, garlic, leeks, polygonum, artemisia, mustard, pungent and tender vegetables and food, called the five Xin plate." Later spring plate, five Xin plate and evolved into spring cake.

Fuchsia Duncan Chong in the Qing Dynasty, "Yanjing times - playing spring" recorded: "is the day of the rich family to eat more spring cakes, women and other more to buy radish and eat, said the bite of spring, said it can be but the spring bustle also." In this way, eating spring cake gradually became a traditional custom, in order to good luck, eliminate disasters.

With the development and improvement of cooking technology, "spring cake" has evolved into a small and delicate spring rolls. At this time it has not only become a folk snack, but also become the court pastry, on the hall of elegance. In the Qing dynasty court in the "Manchu feast" 128 kinds of dishes, spring rolls is one of the nine main snacks.

Spring rolls allusion:

It is said that in the Song Dynasty, there was a scholar in Fuzhou, in order to study for the examination, all day long buried in reading, often sleep and food. His wife advised him three to five times, but no use, they thought of a way to grind the rice into a pancake, to Lai meat as a filling, wrapped into a roll-shaped, both as a meal, but also as a Lai. This snack was later named spring rolls, and gradually popular in urban and rural areas.

Fuzhou people often eat during the Spring Festival, as common as the northern festival dumplings. Cai Xiang once wrote a poem in praise of it, saying, "Spring plate food is like three nines". Today's spring rolls skin has changed to flour, filling is generally used with bean sprouts, leeks, dried tofu, some also put on the shredded meat, bamboo shoots, green onions, etc., the more advanced spring rolls with shredded chicken or oysters, shrimp, mushrooms, chives, etc. made.

Spring rolls are deep-fried in oil over low heat until golden brown and crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, also known as "fried spring".