Lumpia

On Friday the 13th, our book club had a potluck dinner party that included our husbands.  I cooked the appetizers...and took lumpia and a veggie pizza.  The Lumpia was the best I've made in years...and I decided to rerun the post I wrote about them.  EVERYBODY should have one food specialty during the holidays that becomes a family tradition.  My mother made wonderful divinity...we all look forward to my sister Deena's Candy Cane cookies.  For years now, I've been making Lumpia...here's a post I wrote awhile ago...
**********Many years ago, my cousin Denny married Rosie from the Philippines and she brought "lumpia" into our lives. My boys were little and they LOVED lumpia. I invited Rosie over so she could teach me how to make it...and it became a family favorite.

However -- because of all the prep time -- I seldom make lumpia when it's just the two of us. Several years back -- I started making them BEFORE Christmas. On Christmas Day -- lumpia is a hot, delicious, very appreciated special meal.

Like all the best dishes -- it's more technique than recipe...

It starts with a trip to the Oriental Food store to buy lumpia wrappers. The best ones are round, and they're very thin -- made out of rice flour. But this year, they are square -- and look like large eggroll wrappers.



The filling is simple -- the proportions are up to you...

1 lb. hamburger
1/2 lb. pork
1 c. onions (some yellow onions, some green onions, including the tops)
1/2 c. carrots
1/2 c. celery
(Use the food processor to finely chop the veggies.)

Shape the raw meat & veggie filling into a cylinder...place the meat on the wrapper at a diagonal, folding the top corner over, then fold in both sides as you roll it up. Seal the last corner with an egg white wash.

I made a HUGE BATCH -- and then set them out on the porch to chill.

Of course -- the best part is that they are FRIED. That's what makes them so delicious!!

What you're going for is brown and crispy. They are DELICIOUS right now. I fry them all off -- drain them, put them in a bag in the refrigerator. When it's time to eat -- simply heat in a 400 degree oven for 15 minutes.


Serve them with your favorite sweet and sour sauce. Heat the sauce and add crushed pinneapple and chopped green onions...it is so tasty!!

Elliott likes EVERYTHING dipped in Ranch dressing...so that should be an option, too.

Rolling & frying the lumpia AHEAD OF TIME made Christmas dinner a breeze...and we weren't married to a specific TIME, either. We enjoyed a leisurely late breakfast...opened our gifts. Several hours later -- when we were hungry -- I simply reheated the lumpia! Everything else had been made in advance.

Yes, it's true. My arm is hurting from patting myself on the back...