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Spring waved goodbye, but spring rolls stay
en.hangzhou.com.cn   2022-05-12 10:31   Source:Hangzhoufeel

Cindy loves Chun Juan and would love to have a try at it at home

Spring waved goodbye, leaving Hangzhou a lively place with fresh air, vigorous blossoms and of course, countless ingredients of gourmet dishes. For the fifth episode of Hangzhou Flavor, we present you a Chinese pancake-like delicacy—— "Chun Juan", or spring rolls.

This traditional snack with vegetable fillings inside a thinly wrapped cylindrical pastry was once served during the Spring Festival as a welcome change from the preserved foods in the long winter months, hence the name. In modern times, however, it can be made at any time throughout spring. And its flavor can be sweet, savory or salty while its fillings vary from red bean paste, seasonal vegetables to shredded pork. Fried spring rolls are generally small and crispy, and often serves as a delicious appetizer at a Chinese family meal.

Cindy Samudio Martelo from Barranquilla, Colombia has been living in Hangzhou for 7 years. She came to Hangzhou in 2015 and majored in Business Chinese at Zhejiang University of Science & Technology. After graduation, she now works as a livestreamer and would make videos in spare time with her boyfriend telling their stories in Hangzhou to the world. "Hangzhou has seen us build a future together through the years." Cindy loves it here and is very interested in Hangzhou food, "I cook at home sometimes. And I would love to have a try at the spring roll."

Before making any rolls, we needed to go get the ingredients. So, we went to the local market Dama Lane and purchased pork, vegetables and the roll wrapper—— the Spring Pancake, which is the key to a crispy roll. But how to make thin wrappers? Well, the steps sound easy: First, mix the batter. Second, roll out dough balls. Finally, dip the dough balls on a heated pan. But we suggest you to buy it instead of making one from home because you may prone to get burned if you are not skillful with it.

Anyway, Cindy took the wrappers to learn from our old friend, Hu Ge. "We will make two kinds of spring rolls." Hu gave an introduction, "For the vegetarians, we use pickled cabbage, fungi, and spring bamboo shoots. And we will also make a half-meat-half-veggie one which is cooked with pork, spring bamboo shoots and Chinese leek shoot."

Author: Reporter: Pan Wenjie Photo Fang Jingyi  Editor:Ye Lijiao
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