There are so many ways in cooking and making lumpia, but I will share with you a lumpia recipe which is pretty much a base recipe for your lumpia. You can customize this recipe according to your liking. You can add, shrimp, add shredded cabbage, spinach, and bean sprouts ( my most favorite) or change the meat into ground turkey or ground pork. As for myself, I have tried all the variations, and they all turned out epic. So brace yourself to learn this recipe while I dip one more time in this turquoise body of seawater from Coron, Palawan… 🙂
In my experience, there are two kinds of lumpia: it is either you cook the filling first or fill the lumpia wrapper with a raw filling, freeze them, and it will be called Lumpia Shanghai. Lumpia recipe is also perfect if you use a native Asian Lumpia Wrapper which you can find in any Asian store: like Menlo wrapper and Simex Brands, but if you do not have an Asian store close to you, a Wonton wrapper will work just fine, but it will turn out tart and less crunchy compared to those I mentioned. I heard you could use a Phyllo dough, but I cannot say much about it since I have not tried it.
So many people are very intimidated to cook lumpia, but really, it is straightforward. This is so easy to make that you will not buy those expensive spring rolls from the store – which are not as tasty and simply bland. Now that you have learned how to make your lumpia, you now have a staple recipe that you can show off at your next party. I promise you; your friends will rave about it. There are 50 pieces of lumpia wrapper in one pack, so you can make all of them and freeze them. You can cook 3 to 4 pieces at a time. There is no need to thaw these little gems; heat the oil and deep fry the lumpia pieces right away.NOTE that Lumpia is best when eaten right after cooking. If you wait a while to eat your lumpia after they are cooked, they will turn soggy, so this appetizer is not good to pack for lunch. Just letting you know…
You can eat this with Sweet and Sour chili sauce, which you can also find in your Asian store. You can “Americanize” it by dipping the lumpia with catsup. If you use leeks in this recipe, I assume you have some leftover leek stems, so here is some Leeks Recipe: Salt and Pepper Shrimp with Leeks, Stir-Fried Teriyaki Salmon.
FOR MORE LUMPIA RECIPES:
Easy and delicious Lumpia Recipe
Lumpiang Togue/Mung Beans Lumpia
Ingredients
- 1 stem leeks chopped (OR you can use 1 medium size red onion)
- 4 cloves garlic chopped
- 1 1/4 cups carrots chopped ( this measurement is from a 1 huge carrots)
- 2 lbs ground beef
- 2 tablespoon cooking oil
- dark soy sauce or salt to taste
Instructions
- Heat cooking oil in a skillet. Add in garlic and leeks and cook for around 2 minutes. Add carrots and cook for additional 2 minutes. Add ground beef and cook until there is no more redness of the beef ( or until the meat is cooked through).Remove or drain excess oil. Season with soy sauce or salt and pepper. Let cool before preparing the Lumpia.
TO ASSEMBLE:
- Prepare a bowl of water to use as sealant. Gently separate the lumpia wrapper as they are very frail and thin. Then place them one at a time on a flat surface or on the large plate. Place a heaping 2 to 3 tablespoon of the filling diagonally near the one corner of the wrapper - leaving 1 1/2 inch space on each corner. Take the bottom and top edges of the wrapper and fold them towards the center. Take the left and right sides, and fold them towards the center. Moisten the last edge of the wrapper to seal. Now repeat using the rest of the wrappers. You can cook the lumpia right away or you can freeze them. I usually line the lumpia with an inch distance from each other on a cookie sheet and freeze them then when they are hard, put them together in a zip loc. It will prevent the lumpia from sticking to each other. You do not need to thaw the lumpia when you are ready to cook them.Cook 3 to 4 pieces at a time by deep frying. Make sure to cook it in medium fire and that it is cook through in the inside. Sometimes, I have to re cook the Lumpia because of this.
Bob says
This recipe is exactly how we made lumpia in the PI. Love the flavor of these. Thank you for sharing your recipe.
Lizzy says
This looks like such a flavorful an simple dish. I love Filipino food and can’t wait to try!
Shobelyn Dayrit says
You’re welcome. Thanks!
Amanda says
What a delicious recipe! They make such great appetizers, and they’re so simple to make. Thanks so much for sharing!