Yiling Spring Rolls 夷陵春卷

Yiling Spring Rolls (夷陵春卷) are a snack of Yichang (宜昌), Hubei: thin egg-and-flour wrappers rolled around lightly stir-fried garlic chives, cured pork, pressed tofu and shiitake mushrooms or winter bamboo shoots, then deep-fried until golden. The Yichang Culture and Tourism Bureau (宜昌市文化和旅游局) lists them among the city's foods, and the Xiling District (西陵区) government describes them as still one of the everyday foods of ordinary Yichang households.

How it is made

According to the Yichang Culture and Tourism Bureau, egg is worked into the flour, mixed evenly and rolled into thin wrappers. The filling is garlic chives, cured pork and pressed tofu with shiitake mushrooms or winter bamboo shoots, stir-fried only briefly before it is rolled up. The rolls are then deep-fried until golden. The Xiling District government notes that the method is much the same from one kitchen to the next, but people season them to their own liking: some rolls are mild, others numbing and spicy.

Flavour and texture

Fried Yiling Spring Rolls are crisp outside and tender inside, fragrant and soft to bite.

How it is eaten

The Xiling District government says they are usually made at home around the lunar New Year and feature strongly at the Spring Festival and the Lantern Festival, while the Hubei Provincial Party History Research Office (中共湖北省委党史研究室) says Yichang people especially eat them around Qingming (清明). Market vegetable stalls sell them both ready-fried and wrapped but unfried, so buyers can pick what suits them, and large supermarkets stock packaged rolls in their freezers.