The lantern festival marks the end of the celebration of Chinese New Year. Soon after, as the temperature slowly rises, spring is on the horizen. Spring, the season of life, wakes up the world and all creatures living inside. In ancient China, the beginning of spring is particularly important for the agriculture-based society because it's the time to start a new season of farming.
Chinese people create special foods for important dates and occasions through the year, and the beginning of spring is of no expection. In China, especially the northern part, it's a tradition to eat spring pancakes along with various fresh green vegetables around this season. On the other hand, the spring rolls widely seen across the world today is actually associated with the celebration of spring, as it's a variation of the traditional spring pancakes.
The spring pancake, also known as the lotus leaf cake, is, as the name suggests, as wide and thin as the leaves of lotus. Chinese people have been eating spring pancakes for more than 1,000 years. The cakes are made of white flour doughs, which are streched into thin and large pieces. Two pancakes are stacked together with oil in between when put in the pan. After fully cooked, the two cakes can be easily seperated because of the oil. Spring pancakes are to be eaten with a variety of fresh vegetables, such as green onions, chives, and been sprouts. People put vegetables inside the pancake and make it a roll. It is also common to put braised meat in the roll.
In Southern China, the commonly-seen spring rolls come from very similar traditions. However, spring rolls have sealed edges and are deep fried before being served. Inside spring rolls we can find similar stuffings: braised meat, shredded carrots, bean sprouts, and green onions. The tradition of eating spring rolls has been spreaded widely to other nations. For instance, Vietnamese cuisines usually serve deep-fried spring rolls as one of the most ordered items.