An egg roll is a Chinese-style snack consisting of diced meat and chopped vegetables that are wrapped in an egg-based dough, and then deep-fried in hot oil. Although Andrew Coe, the author of Chop Suey: A Cultural History of Chinese Food in the United States claims that the appetizer was invented in New York in the early 1930s, most people still believe that egg rolls originated in Southern China, as the tradition stems from Cantonese cuisine.

Today, egg rolls are mostly consumed as appetizers or as a part of a big breakfast, when they are served hot, preferably with a spicy dipping sauce on the side. There are also numerous other versions of egg rolls in countries such as Vietnam, Australia, the United Kingdom, and India.