Photography by Ian L. Sitren

Posts tagged “Chinese American Food

National Egg Roll Day

A stack of eighteen Panda Express chicken egg rolls photographed on a black background. Several rolls are halved to reveal the filling of cabbage, carrots, and chicken. The pile is covered in three condiments—bright red chili sauce or sriracha, yellow hot mustard, and translucent orange sweet and sour sauce—applied liberally and allowed to drip across the composition. The sauces add visual contrast and texture to the crisp, golden-brown wrappers. Part of the From Bag to Background series, photographed without styling or props.

Today is National Egg Roll Day.

Most people order an egg roll or two as a side item.

For this photograph, I ordered eighteen.

At that point, the egg rolls stop being a side dish and become the entire meal. Several were cut open to reveal the filling while the rest were stacked into a pile and covered with sweet and sour sauce, hot mustard, and chili sauce.

The modern American egg roll is actually a Chinese-American creation rather than a traditional Chinese food. While its exact origins are debated, the thick, bubbly wrapper and hearty filling helped make egg rolls a familiar part of takeout menus across the United States.

The egg rolls came from Panda Express, which opened its first restaurant in Glendale, California, in 1983 and has grown into the largest American-Chinese restaurant chain in the United States.

There is a lot more food to tempt you on my website along with my other photography projects, my new Motion page, and be sure to check out my blog. There is even more there and it is updated almost daily. Visit SecondFocus.com Thanks!