Technical Leaders - Working with the Management Team
Xiamen Spring Rolls
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Prepared by Karen
Have a taste of spring with Xiamen's ultimate fast food
Chun Juan or "Spring Rolls" is a fried rolled pancake filled with slices of
various vegetables, meats and seafood. The local people of Xiamen called it
"Bao Bing" and like to have them as traditional snacks.
Xiamen spring rolls are the ultimate fast food. The whole process was done in
less than half a minute!
A thin wheat pancake wraps up a delicious cooked filling made from mainly
vegetables, and on Qingming, the Tomb Sweeping Day when most families
will not start the fire on the stove, it is the perfect dish.
Fried Spring Rolls
Unlike fried spring rolls, which are generally smaller and crispier, Xiamen
spring rolls are not fried, but bigger, and always savory. Apart from the
vegetables used, which include radishes and cabbages, in the coastal cities of
Fujian, seafood like oysters, prawns and fish are used as well.
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Prepared by Karen
The rolls are traditionally eaten on Qingming, where families visit the tombs of
their ancestors. It is a festival which is also known as Cold Food Day (寒食节),
since most families will not be cooking that day.
After cleaning the graves and paying their respects, families would return
home and wrap the prepared filling with the pancakes and make a meal of it.
This tradition began in China from the Tang Dynasty (AD 618-907), and is still
observed faithfully in Xiamen to this day.
The first bite is always juicy, and the novice may actually make a mess of it,
but that's part of the fun of eating a tender and delicious Xiamen spring roll.
The original, genuine recipe of spring rolls has been so poorly disseminated
that it seems that only those residing in Southern Fujian know and appreciate it.
Among them are the people of Xiamen and Quanzhou. While both make
Southern Fujian their homes, they have different interpretations of the recipe
and have always been competing with each other as to which tastes better. A
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Prepared by Karen
fortuitous result is that both styles have been improved, refined, and have
ultimately flourished.
Those from outside the province, even those who have had years of
experience working in Xiamen, may as well be complete strangers to the
genuine Xiamen Spring Roll.
