Filipino Lumpia
Filipino Comfort Food: Part 1
I'm back... AGAIN! Grad school and work have been keeping my busy. I'm currently sitting at an airport lounge, drinking rose, & ready for a short/sweet R&R with family in Monterey, California.
Speaking of family, mine is from the beautiful Philippine Islands! What better way to start my weekend with family with one of our favorite dishes - Lumpia! It's a Filipino staple. If you've ever been to a Filipino party or get-together, you should know that lumpia are addicting! Lumpia, or Filipino Egg Roll, is a bite-sized, delicately crisp, & crunchy snack packed with flavor. I've definitely spruced up my recipe from the traditional way of making them.
There are several different variations of lumpia: fresh, naked, and fried, and can you can fill it with whatever you like. I prefer the taste of pork lumpia, which is what I'll be showing you how to make here!
You can find most of these ingredients at your local grocery store. The sweet chili sauce and lumpia wrappers are what you'll have to hunt for. For dipping, I love the Mae Ploy brand of sweet chili sauce. Most grocery stores carry a sweet & sour sauce that will also work great for dipping your lumpia in. I haven't found any lumpia wrappers in most US grocery stores, but have found them at my local oriental grocery store. If you live in Nashville, TN like I do, you can find lumpia wrappers and Mae Ploy sweet chili sauce at K&S World Market. There are 2 locations in Nashville. One is off of Charlotte Pike in West Nashsville and the other is on Nolensville Pike. Be sure to check them out! They have a great produce selection at cheaper prices than most grocery stores.
So let's get cooking!
This recipe makes approximately 50 lumpia pieces. You'll need:
- 1 lb ground pork
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 3 ribs of celery, finely diced
- 3 carrots, grated
- 1 large yellow onion, finely diced
- 1 egg
- 1 tbsp sesame oil
- 1/2 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tbsp coconut aminos
- 1 + 1/2 tsp onion powder
- 2 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp ground pepper
- 1 pack of lumpia wrapper or spring roll pastry
- 2-3 tbsp water, for sealing wrapper
- Sweet chili sauce for dipping
- Vegetable oil
Get Cookin'!
- Place the ground pork in a large bowl or stand-mixer bowl.
- Add the carrots, celery, onion, garlic, egg, seasonings, soy sauce, coconut aminos, and semame oil to the bowl.
- Mix in until well-combined. If you don't have a stand mixer, you can use your hands, a wooden spoon or spatula, or hand mixer!
- Remove the lumpia wrappers from the packaging. Cut the wrapper in half diagonally so it makes 2 triangles.
- Carefully peel one wrapper off of the stack. Place it on a flat surface with the point or apex of the triangle facing away from you.
- Add a spoonful of the lumpia filling to the center of the wrapper, and use your fingers to spread it out. (See the video to the left!)
- Fold the bottom of the wrapper over the filling and carefully roll and fold in the sides.
- Once you have about of inch of wrapper left to roll, dip your fingers in water, and press against the triangle to seal the egg roll.
- Repeat until you use all of the filing & lumpia wrapper.
- Freeze in gallon-sized Ziploc bags in a single layer if you won't be cooking them right away.
- If you plan to cook right away, cut lumpia pieces in half. This allows them to be more bite-sized & cook up faster.
- Place a small frying pan on medium-high heat. Add enough oil to fill 1/3 of the pan.
- Once the oil is hot, slowly add the lumpia pieces to the pan without overcrowding the pan (i usually cook no more than 6 at a time) and cook for 4 minutes per side, or until golden brown all over. You can also use a deep-fryer, but I don't own one of those!
- Let the lumpia rest on a plate lined with a paper towel to absorb excess oil.
- Serve it up with some sweet chili sauce for dipping & enjoy! As always, stay Nashfull!
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