LUMPIA
Lumpia is the Filipino version of a spring roll or egg roll. I learned to make lumpia when I was still in middle school. My home economics instructor back then was a lady from Hawaii and she taught us about many different, weird and wonderful (or, some not so wonderful) foods from places all over the world.
This teacher even brought in Poi one day for us to taste (eeyuk). For anyone unfamiliar, from what I remember Poi is a gooey paste made from mashed Taro root and, if not eaten immediately, the paste is left to sour/ferment for up to a week. It is supposed to be very nutritious for babies with dairy allergies, but once it begins to ferment, it is rarely eaten without adding milk & sugar.
Anyway, I digress, Lumpia and sweet & sour sauce was one of our first cooking lessons (I think I was 12 or 13 at the time) and they turned out lovely, so I have continued to make them ever since. This is my own version, although I am sure there are heaps of recipes out there. I made pork lumpia on this occasion, but I think I like beef the best, but I have added shrimp on occasion and those were nice as well.
INGREDIENTS:
2 Tbsp Sesame Oil
1 Lg Yellow Onion, finely diced
3 Cloves Crushed Garlic
500 Gm (approx 1 Lb) Lean Minced Pork (or chicken, or beef)
2 Med Carrots, peeled & grated or julienned
¼ Head Cabbage, sliced finely
½ Cup Mung Bean Sprouts (more or less)
4 Cups Stock (whatever kind you prefer, I used chicken)
1 Pkg Rice Vermicelli Noodles (adjust to suit depending on how many rolls you are making)
¼ Cup (packed) Coriander or Parsley, finely chopped
3 Lg Scallions (spring onions)
*Freshly Ground Black Pepper
1 Pkg (approx 20 ea) Spring Roll Wrappers or Lumpia wrappers (if you can get them)
*Peanut Oil for frying rolls
*Amounts vary to individual tastes
DIRECTIONS:
Heat your sesame oil and begin to cook onions over medium heat.
As the onions begin to go clear, add garlic and cook for an additional 30-60 seconds before adding in the meat of your choice.
Brown the meat and be sure to cook thoroughly, as the frying of the rolls at the end will not be long enough to get the rolls to a temperature high enough for a long enough time to cook the meat at that stage.
As the meat is browning, in a separate pot, bring your stock to a boil.
Once meat looks cooked, add in the carrots, cabbage, and bean sprouts.
Once the stock boils, remove it from the heat and add your rice vermicelli noodles and allow them to soften about 2 minutes.
Once the noodles are soft, drain them and add them to the meat mixture.
Remove the meat mixture from the heat and add the coriander/parsley, the scallions, and the black pepper and make sure to combine everything well and set aside until cool enough to handle.
Now you need to remove the wrappers from the package and lay them onto a damp tea towel. You will remove one wrapper at a time and fold the damp towel over the top of the remaining wrappers while rolling each lumpia roll.
Depending on who you talk to, traditional lumpia rolls are fairly small with very little filling however…I tend to make them bigger and more the size of a spring roll, but it’s up to you how much filling to roll up in each wrapper.
To fill and roll lumpia, as with most spring roll/egg roll items, you begin with the wrapper angled with corners on both sides and placing the filling across the bottom corner.
This teacher even brought in Poi one day for us to taste (eeyuk). For anyone unfamiliar, from what I remember Poi is a gooey paste made from mashed Taro root and, if not eaten immediately, the paste is left to sour/ferment for up to a week. It is supposed to be very nutritious for babies with dairy allergies, but once it begins to ferment, it is rarely eaten without adding milk & sugar.
Anyway, I digress, Lumpia and sweet & sour sauce was one of our first cooking lessons (I think I was 12 or 13 at the time) and they turned out lovely, so I have continued to make them ever since. This is my own version, although I am sure there are heaps of recipes out there. I made pork lumpia on this occasion, but I think I like beef the best, but I have added shrimp on occasion and those were nice as well.
INGREDIENTS:
2 Tbsp Sesame Oil
1 Lg Yellow Onion, finely diced
3 Cloves Crushed Garlic
500 Gm (approx 1 Lb) Lean Minced Pork (or chicken, or beef)
2 Med Carrots, peeled & grated or julienned
¼ Head Cabbage, sliced finely
½ Cup Mung Bean Sprouts (more or less)
4 Cups Stock (whatever kind you prefer, I used chicken)
1 Pkg Rice Vermicelli Noodles (adjust to suit depending on how many rolls you are making)
¼ Cup (packed) Coriander or Parsley, finely chopped
3 Lg Scallions (spring onions)
*Freshly Ground Black Pepper
1 Pkg (approx 20 ea) Spring Roll Wrappers or Lumpia wrappers (if you can get them)
*Peanut Oil for frying rolls
*Amounts vary to individual tastes
DIRECTIONS:
Heat your sesame oil and begin to cook onions over medium heat.
As the onions begin to go clear, add garlic and cook for an additional 30-60 seconds before adding in the meat of your choice.
Brown the meat and be sure to cook thoroughly, as the frying of the rolls at the end will not be long enough to get the rolls to a temperature high enough for a long enough time to cook the meat at that stage.
As the meat is browning, in a separate pot, bring your stock to a boil.
Once meat looks cooked, add in the carrots, cabbage, and bean sprouts.
Once the stock boils, remove it from the heat and add your rice vermicelli noodles and allow them to soften about 2 minutes.
Once the noodles are soft, drain them and add them to the meat mixture.
Remove the meat mixture from the heat and add the coriander/parsley, the scallions, and the black pepper and make sure to combine everything well and set aside until cool enough to handle.
Now you need to remove the wrappers from the package and lay them onto a damp tea towel. You will remove one wrapper at a time and fold the damp towel over the top of the remaining wrappers while rolling each lumpia roll.
Depending on who you talk to, traditional lumpia rolls are fairly small with very little filling however…I tend to make them bigger and more the size of a spring roll, but it’s up to you how much filling to roll up in each wrapper.
To fill and roll lumpia, as with most spring roll/egg roll items, you begin with the wrapper angled with corners on both sides and placing the filling across the bottom corner.
Once you have all of your rolls made, you can heat up the peanut oil and fry them 2-3 at a time to cook the wrapper until it’s golden brown and crispy.
Lumpia is best served with a sweet and sour sauce. You can find a simple recipe for my sauce with my post for Coconut Prawns.
Enjoy!!!
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4 Thoughts & Remarks:
One of my favorite things in the world! They look wonderful!
Lumpia's are a childhood favorite of mine. I love the diagram for rolling. Thanks!
My husband and I made some of these over the summer and they turned out great. Yours look very similar to ours.
Yeah, I suppose there isn't a great variety in spring roll type foods...other than what type of meat goes in. We all probably have very similar recipes for more than a few things.
So long as no one is trying to take credit for someone else's stuff, it's no worry I guess.
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