Chinese New Year Egg Rolls
Gung Hay Fat Choy!! Welcome to the Year of the Monkey! I was so lucky to be asked by Cost Plus World Market to create a series of videos and design a fun and festive tablescape for the Lunar New Year. Please take a look at my videos for Potstickers, Long Life Noodles with Chicken and the Mandarin Mule – a gingery and bubbly Lunar New Year co*cktail.
Besides Potstickers, Long Life Noodles and delicious co*cktails, another great thing to make is Chinese New Year Egg Rolls. Chinese New Year Egg Rolls or Spring Rolls symbolize good fortune because their rectangular shape is similar to that of gold bars. Who doesn’t want to ring in the New Year with some good fortune? This is an easy and fun recipe to make with kids as they can help fill and roll up the egg rolls. I like to get my five spice powder at the gourmet section of World Market.
These Chinese New Year Egg Rolls are made with classic Cantonese Egg Roll skins which are bit thicker and chewier than Spring Rolls skins. If you prefer Spring Rolls, then purchase spring roll skins (available at Asian markets) instead. You’ll need to separate the skins beforehand and then just roll as directed.
We start with a delicious filling made with chicken breast, sh*take mushrooms, beansprouts, scallions and seasoned with five spice powder. Feel free to substitute with or add shrimp to this recipe (I just throw in some chopped cooked shrimp right before I get ready to roll)
Start with placing about 1/2 cup of the filling slightly below the center of the eggroll wrapper.
Now roll up the skin around the filling tightly but not too tight for the skin to tear or break. This is a key step in rolling up eggrolls or else they can fall apart
Next, you want to fold the flaps in like an envelope securely and neatly on both sides. You’ll want to use a pastry brush now to moisten the edges on the remaining top flap with the egg wash just as you would an envelope but please resist the urge to lick it:)
Our beauties are ready for frying. Make sure you have everything ready before you start frying as it goes quickly. Have a cookie sheet lined with paper towel and your tongs ready to to. You can find out if the oil is hot enough by placing a small piece of eggroll wrapper in the oil. If it floats to the top immediately, it’s ready! Don’t place too many eggrolls in the oil at once or the temperature will reduce and you’ll have soggy eggrolls on your hands.
FAQs
Egg rolls (also called fried spring rolls) are a favorite all year round but they're considered an auspicious food during the new year because they resemble gold bars and thus symbolize wealth and prosperity!
What is the tradition of eggs in Chinese New Year? ›
Origin and folklore. Similar to Western Easter eggs, in Chinese culture eggs symbolize birth or a new start; thus, it is of paramount importance for eggs to be served to guests during an important birthday (such as the first month or first year). The color red symbolizes prosperity and good fortune to the Chinese.
What are the Chinese New Year rolls? ›
Chun Juan (Spring Rolls)
Spring rolls (chun juan) take their name from the holiday for which they're traditionally prepared: the Spring Festival (chunjie), also known as Chinese New Year. The crisp golden rolls are meant to symbolize bars of gold and bring wealth and prosperity in the year to come.
Who invented Chinese egg rolls? ›
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 ...
What are the two foods to eat during Chinese New Year to bring good luck? ›
Dumplings and Potstickers: Wealth
The first foods we want to cover are dumplings and potstickers because they are beloved dishes that anyone from anywhere will enjoy. The reason that dumplings are a lucky food for Chinese New Year is because they symbolize wealth.
What is the main tradition carried out on Chinese New Year's Eve? ›
On New Year's Eve, traditionally people would light candles or oil lamps to keep vigil all night: this is known as Shou Sui (守岁). In this way, they drive away all evil plagues and look forward to the good luck of the New Year.
What is traditionally taboo during the Chinese New Year? ›
Chinese New Year celebrations are accompanied by specific rites and rituals with strict prohibitions and taboos. The Chinese refrain from using foul language or speaking inauspicious words such as “die”, “bad luck”, “lose” or “sick” to prevent misfortune befalling members of the family.
What is the Chinese egg myth? ›
Pan Gu, the first man, is said to have come forth from chaos (an egg) with two horns, two tusks, and a hairy body. Some accounts credit him with the separation of heaven and earth, setting the sun, moon, stars, and planets in place, and dividing the four seas.
What is the meaning of egg roll in Chinese food? ›
The Origin of the Egg Roll
Most assume the name came from a dish published in a 1917 Chinese American Cookbook called “Dan Gun,” which translates to “Egg Roll.” This dish consists of vegetables and meat wrapped up in an egg and are sliced once wrapped up.
What is not allowed on the first day of the Chinese New Year? ›
On the first day of the lunar year:
No washing clothes or hair or bathing. The first and second day of the lunar year is the birthday of the “Water God”, so you are not supposed to use water to show respect for the Water God. No sweeping the floor or taking out rubbish. If you do so, you are carrying your fortune out.
In Lunar New Year traditions, revelers believe tangerines, oranges and pomelos bring good fortune. Their Mandarin names echo words with symbolic meanings: "jú" for oranges suggests "good luck" or "fortune," "chéng" for tangerine is akin to "success," and "youzi" for pomelos sounds similar to "have" or "abundance."
Can you eat chicken on Chinese New Year? ›
Chicken served whole is a traditional Chinese New Year food that symbolizes unity and wholeness. Chicken is typically braised or roasted with simple ingredients such as ginger or soy.
Are egg rolls Japanese or Chinese? ›
Foodtimeline.org says, “egg rolls (and their lighter counterpart, spring rolls) date back to ancient China. It is quite likely that egg-roll type foods were made and consumed in the USA by the first Chinese settlers in the mid 1800's.” Okay, now we are getting somewhere.
What is the slang egg roll? ›
Street name, slang, or code word for 3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA). MDMA is commonly referred to as ecstasy. Note: Innumerable substances–legal or illicit or combinations thereof–are used to facilitate illegal activities.
Are egg rolls healthy? ›
Sure, there are veggies in the filling. But egg rolls are anything but healthy. They're wrapped in dough and deep-fried. The result is an appetizer that packs more than 220 calories and 10 grams of fat in each one.
What does egg rolling symbolize? ›
As Christianity would have it, the rolling of an egg is symbolic of the stone rolling back from Christ's tomb, allowing him out to prank his disciples. Or, if you prefer, it is the hard shell of the egg that represents the tomb: cracking it represents letting him out.
What do eggs symbolize in Chinese culture? ›
The Chinese believe eggs symbolize fertility. After a baby is born, parents may hold a "red egg and ginger party", where they serve round hard-boiled eggs to announce the birth.
What is the meaning of egg in new year? ›
The egg is widely used as a symbol of the start of new life, just as new life emerges from an egg when the chick hatches out. Painted eggs are used at the Iranian spring holidays, the Nowruz that marks the first day of spring or Equinox, and the beginning of the year in the Persian calendar.
