Spring roll vs fried spring roll referencing

[BAPyessir6]

This is more a question of English vs Vietnamese referencing than anything else. When people talk about spring rolls, they always make a distinction between spring rolls (fresh, or Goi Cuon) and fried spring rolls (are they called egg rolls technically? Cha Gio). But when I'm with English speaking friends, we all refer to it as "Spring rolls" and I never know if they're referencing to the fresh or fried kind unless I clarify. Is there any way in English that people have heard on how to refer to these, aside from saying "fresh spring rolls" and "fried spring rolls"? Or I could just start using the Vietnamese wording for them to avoid confusion.

Also on fried spring rolls, I've heard them called both in English, Vietnamese (fried?) spring rolls and "Vietnamese egg rolls", but I always thought egg rolls had a different skin/wrapper than fried spring rolls. Or is it the referring to it as Vietnamese (vs. the other Chinese egg rolls) that make a difference?

 

[pictonguy]

Yeah, egg roll wrappers are thicker and smaller generally than spring roll wrappers and they have eggs in their ingredients, hense the name, where spring roll wrappers don't and both made from wheat flour. Fresh spring roll wrappers are made from rice flour and are translucent and prepared by dipping in water and served fresh, not cooked. All of these are culturally dictated. Egg roll is basically from China while the others are generally found in Vietnam, Philippine's, Thailand and other South East Asian countries.
I use the terms egg rolls, spring rolls and fresh spring rolls, but that still seems to confuse people who I suspect are not well aware of the differences, but most chefs I know, well at least in the Toronto and Ontario area will understand what I'm talking about considering the very large Asian population here, and I suspect Vancouver to be similar.

 

[blissful]

Rice wrappers are for spring rolls, a wheat flour wrapper are for egg rolls.

I've never made a rice wrapper but I have made wheat flour wrappers. The wheat flour wrappers are always baked with oil on them or deep fried or shallow fried. The recipes for the wheat flour wrappers are almost identical to pasta recipes, with or without egg, essentially flour and water.

 

[jennyema]

Fresh spring rolls are commonly referred to as "summer rolls," as a means of distinction

 

[dragnlaw]

I have always referred to Egg rolls with a flour wrapper and fried, Spring rolls with rice paper.
Only just recently did I hear about Spring rolls (rice paper) actually being fried. Needless to say I was quite surprised.

 

[pictonguy]

I have always referred to Egg rolls with a flour wrapper and fried, Spring rolls with rice paper.
Only just recently did I hear about Spring rolls (rice paper) actually being fried. Needless to say I was quite surprised.

Spring roll wrappers can be made from wheat flour of rice flour. The wheat flour spring roll wrappers are generally deep fried and the rice flour ones are transparent and used for fresh wrapped ingredients and what jennyema refers to summer rolls.

 

[taxlady]

Thai Express has some small, fried rolls that they call "imperial rolls".

 

[dragnlaw]

Yes, pictonguy. I understand what you're saying and have heard them all. LOL... Just saying what I've seen and heard.

Yes, true that! taxy, I've seen Imperial Rolls in the freezer section.

 

[larry_stewart]

There's a restaurant by us where the term "Spring roll" refers to a vegetarian egg roll (no shrimp) where as Egg Roll its with the shrimp. Everytime my wife orders ( from anywhere ) I make sure she throws the word vegetarian in front it so there are no errors, since spring roll could be interpreted as many different things.

 

[Badjak]

As a non native English speaker, I only knew spring rolls for the whole category of them.
Normally preceded by the country they come from.
Obviously I would assume egg rolls to have egg in the dough.

Fresh vs fried:
I would assume fried, unless specifically mentioned it is not.
So spring roll is fried. Fresh spring roll is not.

And it wouldn't surprise me if they are called differently in British English vs American English

 

[dragnlaw]

Yes, agree with both Badjak and Larry. Be sure nyou know which it is you are ordering - LOL I think they are different from restaurant to restaurant to premade & packaged freezer made.