Lumpia ( Filipino Crunchy Spring Rolls)

Lumpia ( Filipino Crunchy Spring Rolls)

Lumpia is a crunchy spring rolls loved by many.This original recipe will give you the crunchiest and the yummiest lumpia as the end result.Just dip the Lumpia in a sweet sour sauce and it wiil be very delicious and very much suitable for you all for finger food  or appetizer to enjoy at home or at parties. Lumpia or Spring rolls or generally known in America as egg rolls are quite popular in many Asian countries,especially in the Southeast part , such as Indonesia and The Philippines.Today, you will find out more about spring rolls.

Spring rolls are called Lumpia in the Philippines.Lumpia is the Filipino adaptation of the Fujianese and teochew popiah which was created in the 17 th century in China. In Indonesia,there is one famous city in Central Java, Semarang that has Lumpia or Spring Rolls as its typical food for handgift and different from Indonesia, in the Philippines, Lumpia is a common dish served in gatherings and celebration.

Filipinos love this finger food so much that they will always  offer you to give it a try and  you can also buy and enjoy Lumpia sold by street hawkers or some homey lifestyle foodstalls in Manila, the capital city of The Philippines. Lumpia are made of thin paper like pastry skin called “lumpia wrapper”. Later if you can’t find lumpia wrapper,you can also use the Chinese or Vietnamese spring rolls wrapper as its substitute.There are many types of Spring Rolls,but this simple and original recipe  focuses on Filipino-lumpiang Shanghai- yummy and crunchy Spring Rolls .

WHAT DOES LUMPIA MEAN?

As explained above, Lumpia is a Filipino word to call  spring rolls or to be exact, Chinese Spring Rolls that are usually filled with vegetables such as cabbage and carrots, and  meat, usually pork or can be substituted with beef, turkey or seafood  item such as shrimp.

VARIOUS TYPES OF LUMPIA

Lumpia has many different types, but these following three examples are the most well-known ones.They are :

1. Lumpiang Sariwa, a fresh lumpia filled with meat and vegetables. A thin homemade crepe is used instead of the spring rolls or lumpia wrapper.
2. Lumpiang Prito, a Filipino fried Spring Roll filled with meat and various vegetables
3. Lumpiang Hubad or naked lumpia in which no spring roll wrapper is used.

HOW DO YOU MAKE LUMPIA?

This recipe will explain you on how to make Lumpiang Shanghai filled with ground pork and some vegetables.Different from its other counterparts,Lumpiang Shanghai is smaller and thinner.Just roll them up and you will have delicious snacks to munch on!

WHAT’S THE DISTINCTION BETWEEN LUMPIA AND EGG ROLLS?

Lumpia is The Filipino style for fried spring rolls while egg rolls is the American style for spring rolls.Lumpia and Egg rolls are of the same origin,but somehow they have different taste and look.Lumpia is usually small and thin while egg rolls are big and fat.

CAN YOU FREEZE LUMPIA?

Of course,yes.Just freeze The Lumpia that you have already made in the fridge.They will last long in the freezer.Later if you want to cook them,don’t forget to thaw or melt them to room temperature before you deep them fry.

HOW MANY CALORIES PER SERVING?

Each Roll has only 65 calories per serving.

WHAT MEALS TO SERVE WITH  THIS RECIPE?

Some other Filipino meals such as Pancit Bihon (Filipino fried rice noodles),chicken adobo, and Fililpino chicken skewers can be served together with this meal.

COURSE : APPETIZER (SNACKS) OR MAINCOURSE

CUISINE : ASIAN (THE PHILIPPINES)

KEYWORD : LUMPIA RECIPE

PREP TIME : 30 MINUTES

COOK TIME : 10 MINUTES

TOTAL TIME : 40 MINUTES

SERVING SIZE : 1 ROLL

CALORIES : 65 PER SERVING

INGREDIENTS :

1. 1 package (25 sheets) of Lumpia wrappers or Vietnamese spring rolls wrappers
2. 2 lbs of ground pork
3. 5 cloves of peeled and minced garlic
4. 1 inch of peeled and minced ginger
5. 2tablespoons of soy sauce
6. 2 lightly beaten eggs
7. 3 dashes of ground black pepper
8. 6 oz of thinly sliced cabbage

INSTRUCTIONS :

1. Prepare the Lumpia wrappers.Cut the square lumpia wrappers in half using a breadknife.By doing this,you have two stacks of rectangular wrappers.As you work, to keep the lumpia wrappers from drying out,put a damp paper towel above the lumpia wrappers.
2. Prepare a big bowl.Mix the pork,cabbage,ginger ,garlic,eggs,black pepper and soy sauce in the big bowl.To make the seasonings evenly distributed,mix the filling well using your hand or a rubber spatula.
3. Prepare the rectangular wrappers.Put one of the rectangular wrappers verticallyon your work surface with the short edge facing you.On the wrapper,put a heaping teaspoon of the filling about a half inch from the edge nearest you.Hold the bottom edge of the wrapper tightly and roll it up and over the filling.Keep rolling until 2 inches of wrapper remain.
4. Prepare a bowl of water.Dip your 2 fingers into the bowl of water.With your fingers,moisten the last 2 inches of wrapper.Rest it on its seamwhen you finish rolling the lumpia.Keep rolling with the rest of the filling and the lumpia wrappers.
5. Prepare a freezer bag because you can freeze your rolled lumpia in the freezer right now.
6. Prepare a large frying pan.Pour in about ½ inch of vegetable oil into the large frying pan.And then,the vegetable oil is heated over a medium-high heat.In 3-5 minutes max,the lumpia are gently placed into the hot oil and they are fried until they become golden brown on all sides.Frozen lumpia will take 1 or 2 minutes longer when you fry them.
7. Finally,prepare paper towels.The fried lumpia are put on the paper towels and with sweet and sour sauce,serve the lumpia quickly.