egg roll

From egg +‎ roll, modelled after spring roll. The use of egg in the name is probably because the words for spring and egg sound the same in Cantonese, as egg rolls usually contain no egg.

egg roll (plural egg rolls)

1. A food made made by wrapping a combination of chopped vegetables, possibly meat, and sometimes noodles, in a sheet of dough, dipping the dough in egg or an egg wash, then deep frying it.
2. In many Asian countries and among their emigrants, an egg-based, flute-shaped pastry, with typically yellowish, flaky crust, often eaten as a sweet snack or dessert; a crispy biscuit roll.
3. An African snack resembling a Scotch egg.
4. An instance of the egg rolling tradition.

• People who make a distinction often consider an egg roll to be larger and with a thicker skin than a spring roll, but many use the terms interchangeably.