National Egg Roll Day Date in the current year: June 10, 2024

Egg rolls are a type of deep-fried appetizer served in American Chinese and American Vietnamese restaurants. They consist of a wheat flour wrapper with various fillings such as chopped pork or chicken, seafood, shredded cabbage, etc. The roll is deep fried in hot oil and served warm with various sauces or condiments, for example, soy sauce, duck sauce, plum sauce, or hot mustard.

The origins of egg rolls are unclear, but they are believed to be closely related to spring rolls that are commonly found in East and Southeast Asian cuisines. However, there is no dish named “egg rolls” in these cuisines. Egg rolls were first seen in the United States in the early 20th century, so this is probably an example of a traditional dish that was brought to the U. S. by immigrants and adapted to local tastes.

The main difference between Asian spring rolls and American Chinese egg rolls is that latter have a thicker, darker and chewier skin. In addition, spring rolls are usually filled with vegetables and mushrooms (in fact, they were named spring rolls due to being filled with seasonal vegetables), whereas egg rolls are usually stuffed with cabbage and meat or seafood. American-style egg rolls may also contain vegetables that are not commonly found in China such as broccoli.

Interestingly, egg rolls very rarely contain egg in the filling, and the wrapper doesn’t necessarily have to contain egg, either, so the origin of the name is just as unclear as the origin of the dish itself. According to one theory, Chinese chefs who tried to cook spring rolls in the American South added eggs to the dough when making the wheat flour wrapper. Another version claims that the Chinese word for “spring” sounds similar to the Chinese word for “egg” and the two words got confused when the name of the dish was translated into English.

National Egg Roll Day was inaugurated by Van’s Kitchen, an immigrant-founded, minority-owned and women-owned company that produces Vietnamese-style egg rolls with various fillings (pork, chicken, chili lime chicken, vegetables). The date of the holiday was picked to commemorate the company’s founding anniversary and honor its founders, Van and Kim Nguyen, who came from Vietnam in 1966 with $40 dollars in their pocket and made their American Dream come true 20 years later.

The best way to celebrate National Egg Roll Day is to indulge in some delicious egg rolls. You can go out to your favorite Chinese or Vietnamese restaurant, order take out, cook some frozen egg rolls, or even learn to make egg rolls from scratch. And don’t forget two things: one, everything, including egg rolls, tastes better when shared with loved ones, and two, before biting into your egg roll, snap a photo and share it on social media with the hashtag #NationalEggRollDay to spread the word.