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Eat the Taiwan Way

Have A Run Bing for The Tomb Sweeping Holiday

Have A Run Bing for The Tomb Sweeping Holiday

Source:Miguo

Ever wondered why spring rolls are called “spring” rolls? Run bings (潤餅), or steamed springs rolls, hold a special place in the hearts of many Southern Taiwanese, especially when tomb sweeping day is around the corner.

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Have A Run Bing for The Tomb Sweeping Holiday

By Miguo
Opinion@CommonWealth

Every early April, when tomb sweeping holiday is around the corner, I always hear friends saying that they’ve never had a decent run bing (steamed spring roll, 潤餅) long since the elder at home passed away. Swiping through posts from friends showing off their homemade run bings, they yearn to relive this tradition, yet more often they have no idea where to begin.

Preparing the ingredients of a run bing can be a real hassle. Many trivial details do matter. From the picking, the washing, to the cutting of the ingredients, it would be a real challenge if you’re all on your own. It may not be difficult to buy a run bing off the rack, but nothing compares to a real homemade run bing, for it’s about the having a taste of home, of love, not the reputation of the cook.

So now, I’ll share with you my family’s experience of this run bing tradition. It usually begins about a week before tomb sweeping day.

The Roll Wrapper

Having run bings for tomb sweeping day seems to be a custom peculiar to Southern Taiwan. Days before the holiday, a vendor or two can be seen in each and every traditional market carrying out an array of pans to start spreading (擦) spring roll wrappers. These spread wrappers (not flattened) might be relatively rare in Northern Taiwan, though.

Fresh-made roll wrappers would taste better, but since people nowadays might not be willing to spend a morning waiting in line, wrappers may be bought in advance and stored in a freezer. On the day before use, put them in the fridge to defrost, and in the next morning, fold every two wrappers into quarters and stack them up on a big round plate. Cover the stack with a clean wet towel, and a clean plastic bag on the outside, to keep the wrappers from drying.

White Sugar and Groundnut Powder

We usually put one pack of white sugar and two packs of groundnut powder separately in two bowls with two teaspoons, to let them add as much as they like.

♥Egg Strips

Heat up the pan and pour a thin layer of beaten eggs evenly over. Let the egg sit and cool for a while before you cut them into strips.

♥ Pork with Green Garlic

Pork picnic/shoulder/butt with some snowy fat cap would be the best. Slice into long strips and stir-fry them with some oil, salt, and discs of green garlic.

♥Shredded Chicken with Green Garlic

You may buy a whole brine/greased chicken or half. If your family cannot consume that much, you may buy a chicken leg or a piece of breast meat. Shred the chicken by hand. Keep the bones for the soup. Stir-fry the shredded chicken with green garlic. No extra seasoning needed. The chicken is salted already.

♥Cabbage

Cut the cabbage into strips. Quickly stir-fry the cabbage with a little oil and a pinch of salt. No need to cover the pan to steam it. Just keep it crispy.

♥Red Carrots

Peel, grate, then sauté.

♥Celery

Trim off the leaves, and chop the celery into small pieces. Stir-fry a bit with some seasoning. Don’t make it soggy.

♥Dried Bean Curd

Cut the bean curds into thin strips and stir-fry a bit. Otherwise, buy some brined bean curds and cut them. No need to fry them.

♥Shrimp

Buy fresh shrimp, cook it plain, then remove the shell. Or, buy quick-frozen shelled shrimp. Removing the shell might be troublesome, but doing it with your family and chatting along makes it fun.

♥Bean Sprouts

Clean them, then cook them in boiled water.

♥Lima Beans

Lima beans can be found in the markets of Northern Taiwan now, but they are still easier to get in the South. Cook them in boiled water. Some would let them cool to peel off the thin outer film of the beans. Some wouldn’t bother though, like my family. It doesn’t make a big difference.

♥Grated Cucumber

Wash some raw cucumbers, then grate them. Easy enough, isn’t it?

♥Mullet Roe

This might sound a bit over luxurious, but that’s just the way my family has run bings. Slice some fresh baked mullet roe in a plate, to make your family members feel specially treated. You may of course use defrosted, vacuum-sealed ones.

♥Fish Ball with Cucumber Soup

Simmer the soup with the chicken bones, then pop in some chopped cucumber and hand-made fish balls, those that have pointy edges on both sides. Add what may please you, meat balls, fish dumplings or shrimp dumplings. Cucumbers are fast-cooking. Cook them soft or hard boiled? Your choice.

That’s it, the basic ingredients of my family’s homemade run bing. Sometime we would scoop a teaspoon of tofuru (fermented tofu paste) and spread it on the wrapper. Sometimes some shacha sauce. Anyways, run bings are just about that free-styled. Eat them the way you like. There’s no need to comment on others’ run bing, unless you do that as a fun family tradition.

Many other families include oil noodles in their run bing traditions. We don’t share that custom, but oil-noodled run bings are pretty celebrated in Southern Taiwan. They’re worth trying, too.

Prepare the ingredients. Fill the table. Cover them with newspaper or those mesh umbrella food covers, to keep them for the whole day. Hungry? Wrap one, grab, and go. In my family, we’re pretty used to eating it cold. Only the fish ball soup must be steaming hot.

For run bings, the less grease and salt, the better. But groundnut powder is a must. White sugar is optional.

The exact amount of ingredients and wrappers is never something to be calculated. If there are ingredients left, use it for fried noodles or rice noodles. Roll wrappers left? Freeze them up for another day. Crack an egg, chop some scallions, and have a Taiwanese omelette for breakfast.

As for whether to use one wrapper or two, it depends on your preference and skills. How to roll your run bing nice and firm? It takes practice and experience. Having four to five run bings a day is basic. Many children like them plain with nothing more than groundnut powder and sugar. Some even like them baked with nothing but cheese in it. It’s fun.

This year, have your run bing your own way for the coming tomb sweeping holiday!

Translated by Sharon Tseng.



Opinion@CommonWealth
website is a sub-channel of CommonWealth Magazine. Founded in January 2013 with its main focus on social, humanity and policy issues and opinions, Opinion@CommonWealth is dedicated to building a democratic, diverse platform where multi opinions can be presented.

Currently, there are approximately 100 columnists and writers co-contributing on Opinion@CommonWealth to contemplating and exploring Taiwan's future with the Taiwanese society.


Additional Reading

♦ Miguo: One Needs Not A Big Living Space For Later Years
♦ Let’s Eat, the Taiwan ‘Way’
♦ Tasting Home in a Restaurant in Jordan: The Secret Relation Between an Arabian Dish and Taiwan's

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