You KNOW it’s gotta be special. This makes a party a party. This should BE a party when you make it. The more the merrier. The challenge is finding the rice wrappers. They are not carried in most grocery stores. We head to Seafood City in National City to stock up. They do freeze. Our local lumpia take out place will also sell me the wrappers- but they actually use egg roll wrappers! So, you can use those if you can’t find the rice wrappers. When I lived in the Philippines, I saw them making the rice wrappers by brushing the batter on hot skillets using what looked like a paint brush. They are thin. Probably don’t want to “make your own” but I’m sure it’s done.
Once you have the wrappers rounded up- make a large pan of filling. Shrimp, ground pork, ground beef- all make good fillers. Everything inside needs to be chopped small. So potato, carrots, garlic, onion, all chopped in 1/4 inch squares or smaller. Saute (frying at a lower heat) until the potato and carrots are almost done- then add your raw meat or shrimps and some bean sprouts and/or cabbage and finish cooking. Add a splash (tablespoon) of fish sauce and 1/4 cup of soy sauce. Once the bean sprouts have cooked down, turn off and let cool.
Take one wrapper at a time, add a tablespoon or two of filling, and roll, folding in the sides are you go. Pile up 3-4 dozen before you start frying. These can be fried same day or frozen for frying later. If you had some helpers, these will probably be gone the same day.
Fry in 1/2 inch hot canola oil, turning as they brown. Drain on paper towels and serve with dipping sauces. Jalapeno jam makes a great dipper. Sweet and sour sauce is another good one- make it sweet, sour and hot by adding a shot of Chinese hot sauce. Try banana ketchup. Any homemade jam spiced up with Tabasco works too. Plum is a favorite. Just heat a cup of jam in the microwave for 15-30 seconds and stir in the heat.
If you want to be more authentic- mix all the filling ingredients raw. Wrap them SMALL because as you fry, the ingredients need to cook. Test a few to be sure you have your oil hot enough to brown but also low enough to cook the insides. I prefer the cooked filling since I’ve served my share of undone lumpia in the past.
- 2 pounds meat or shrimp
- 2 tablespoons chopped garlic
- 1/2 cup chopped onion- yellow, white, green or all 3
- 1/2 cup chopped carrot
- 1 cup bean sprouts
- 1/2 cup chopped potato
- 1/2 cup green beans, chopped
- 1/2 cup shredded cabbage
- fish sauce/soy sauce
- dipping sauces