The Consistent Authentic Taste: Spring Roll Wrapper Store
Hualien Markets - Exclusive Interview with Spring Roll Wrapper Store
#Fuxing Market
Text/ HUNG Tzu-Hsuan
Translation/ LIU Yi-Chun
Photography/ HUNG Tzu-Hsuan
“Spring Roll Wrappers”
The unadorned name of the shop clearly tells everyone who passes by, what kind of shop it is.
Year after year, they only make spring roll wrappers and make spring roll wrappers well, while being among the diverse flavors gathered and flowing in all directions.
Only spring roll wrappers are sold here, a magic wrapper that consistently wrapped in the entire era unknowingly.
Dough that is alive
Ren Qing-Ming wiped off his sweat. His T-shirt is completely soaked.
“We adjust the dough based on the feel, not on the measurement. Everyone feels different about the dough. So, we cannot exchange dough with others.”
In the big iron basin, the freshly-born dough is crystal clear. It is a healthy dough.
“It takes a lot of effort to knead the dough. It must be kneaded very carefully so it will be soft enough.” Lin Hui-Yu said, “Every year’s tomb-sweeping day, we will be thinking about using machines. But the market is declining, we’re not sure if we can recover costs if we buy the machine. We try to do our best anyway.”
The dough cleverly rotates in Lin Hui-Yu's hands, like a well-trained pet.
“The simpler the movement, the harder it is to learn. It took me months to just let this dough be obedient in my hands.”
It seems that if you want to become a master of spring roll wrapper who can chat while spinning the dough, you must first get along with frustration for months.
“When my child was little, I took her to the market on holidays to let her understand our work. She also learnt how to spin the dough, but she usually threw it to the wall."
“My daughter's graduation project used spring roll wrappers as the theme. She made a small wooden toy that could move. Father was delivering goods and mother was making wrappers.”
If I didn’t learn the skill, no one would know how to do it anymore
The gas stove and the flat customized iron pot are all you need for making spring roll wrappers, and the rest is all about your skill.
“At the beginning, my dad decided to make spring roll wrappers because it required less machinery. When he was young, he worked as a pastry chef at the opposite stall. After the pastry shop was closed, he opened the store for spring roll wrappers by himself.”
Lin Hui-Yu spread the dough on the hot pot smoothly while speaking. She made a perfectly round piece of wrapper.
“We have been in charge for about 20 years. At that time, my job was not going well, so after resigning, I became the apprentice of my dad. My dad is getting old, if you didn’t learn the skill, no one would know how to do it anymore.”
These customers will be back next year certainly!
“We will remove all the bumps on the wrapper to make the whole wrapper thin, so that it will be chewy and even. Many customers say that our wrapper is very chewy, and it won’t break easily. But this way, our productivity is lower compared to other shops. I haven’t seen other people who did the same way as us.”
“The freshly kneaded dough will be sticky. When the fire is too strong, the whole piece will swell, and it will break easily. Sometimes I don’t rush to make it, I will wait for a while to let the dough soak up the moisture. The wrapper made this way will be more exquisite with fewer bumps and holes.”
It takes time but the end result is amazing. With a small piece of wrapper, all the details are taken care of, and it becomes the taste that people are willing to wait for.
“Every year before the tomb-sweeping day, we don’t have time to sleep. We have to stay up late to make wrappers. When we are too busy, we would recommend customers to go to other shops. Some customers would directly refuse and said: ‘No, are those even edible?’ Lin Hui-Yu laughed, ‘There are also some customers who would reach us before they return to their hometowns or fly abroad, they told us that ‘I want to make others know what authentic spring roll wrappers is."
“Many people haven’t eaten delicious spring roll wrappers before, so they are kind of indifferent about it. At first, we tried to keep these customers, but then we just told them where they can buy the wrappers—trust me, you don’t need to worry, they will return next year.”
Creative Spring Rolls Dishes
Speaking of spring roll dishes, Lin Hui-Yu's first thought was a light snack made by a friend. “My friend used to wrap cucumbers, carrots, apples and pickled Luoshen, then add a little bit of peanut powder and mayonnaise, and make them into sushi-shape. It's low in calories and doesn't need to use the stove. It's perfect for summer when you don’t have an appetite. We usually can’t stop eating...”
“In the past few years, many TV shows have used spring roll wrappers to make creative dishes. Some people will want to try it so more people are using spring roll wrappers for making dishes now.”
The Wind from the South East Asia
“Many of the Thai Restaurants in Hualien are our customers. When they were looking for a substitute for moon shrimp cakes in Taiwan, they found that the spring rolls were very crispy and delicious when fried. We have also been in collaboration with roast duck restaurants for over twenty years. These restaurants will order small wrappers, so it will look good when displayed on the table.”
A bicycle stopped in front of the stall.
It was two Filipino girls with bright and big eyes. They skillfully weighed the wrappers and stepped on the pedal again.
They laughed and left.
“The Philippines also often eat spring rolls. They mainly wrap beef and a little bit of vegetables. The taste is different from Taiwan.”
“We have a lot of foreign customers, and they usually come with friends on holidays. Most of them are from the Philippines, and some of them come from Vietnam.” Ren Qing-Ming, who was often in charge of the selling at the front desk, turned around and said: “Those who speak fluent English are mostly Filipinos.”
“They are very cute! Sometimes I meet foreign customers who speak poor Mandarin, but maybe he can speak Taiwanese!” Lin Hui-Yu said, “Sometimes we meet customers who can’t speak both languages, we will try to use simple English to communicate. Maybe even with gestures.”
Wild Rat Hunters
A thin black and brown kitten appeared silently, its tail rubbing everyone's calves.
“Blacky eats dinner first, I’m busy at the moment.”
The black cat buried its entire face in the paper bowl beside the stall.
“There are a lot of cats in the market. I will prepare some feed and put it here. They all know that they can find food here. Blacky will act like a baby, and wants you to touch him. We sometimes accidentally step on his tail!”
“Maybe because all of them can catch rats, most people here are fond of cats. Blacky will catch a rat for the owner of the stall next door, because he feeds him cans every day. We all joked that he was Blacky’s dad.”
“Meow—” Blacky raised his head and stretched lazily.