Eat Lumpia!

Joelen over at Joelen's Culinary Adventures is hosting an event called Asian Appetizer Adventure. When she posted for people to post their Asian appetizers, the first thing I thought of is my favorite -- lumpia! I then read her post further and found out that she is doing the event in conjunction with a class she is teaching on how to make various kinds of eggrolls... including lumpia! DOH! Oh well. I was planning on making lumpia this week anyway, so I figured I would post and just see what happens. Besides, every Filipino family has their own lumpia recipe, so I figured it couldn't hurt to share another one! Here is how my Tita (Aunt) Mila and I make lumpia!

Ingredients:
1 package lumpia wrapper
1.5 pounds ground pork
2 carrots, finely diced
2 celery stalks, finely diced
1 small onion, finely diced
2-3 green onion, finely chopped
1 can water chestnuts, finely diced
1 clove garlic, minced
salt and pepper to taste
1 egg, beaten (for wrapping)

Note: Ingredients in pic are for a double batch.


Directions:
1. Brown pork in skillet. Drain and allow to cool. Once cool, combine with all ingredients (except egg and wrappers) to create your filling mixture. I like to put the filling mixture in a colander so that any excess liquids can drain. If the mixture is too wet, which it can be at the bottom, that is not good for the wrappers, so the colander is helpful with that.
2. Cut wrappers on the diagonal to make triangles. Most people do not do this and instead use the whole wrapper. Either is fine. I find using half the wrapper is plenty and I can get twice as many lumpia from a package, and that's always good!

3. Place 1 Tablespoon of the mixture in the middle towards the base of the triangle.
4. Fold corners in to cover mixture. Roll tightly upwards towards the point stopping about 1 inch from the point.
5. Using fingertip, dot a little of the beaten egg on the tip, the continue rolling to seal the wrapper. Set lumpia aside and finish rolling the rest. (If you would like to freeze for later, it helps to place a sheet of wax paper in between the layers to prevent from sticking.)
6. Fry lumpia in about half an inch of vegetable oil until browned on all sides. Drain on paper towel and enjoy! If you do not want to fry yet, lumpia may be frozen. Thaw before frying.


So, that is how my family makes lumpia. It's a super tasty treat that my DH and his whole family have come to love too. :-)