Christmas Lumpia

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...

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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.

This year, Carrie wanted Lumpia for her Christmas, so I went to her house and we made a HUGE BATCH.  She had the perfect set-up, and we had a real deep fryer in her attached garage.  I didn't get any pictures of us that day -- so I am using photos from many years ago...(I've improved on this wrapping technique now)...and my lumpia are small, almost cigar-sized. 

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, layer them on a cookie sheet, cover with foil.  Then FREEZE.

When it's time to eat -- I lay them on a clean towel to thaw, then 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!!

Rolling and frying the lumpia AHEAD OF TIME made Christmas eve dinner a breeze...
Well done, Carrie and Rita.  Lumpia is a gigantic ONCE A YEAR HIT...and yes,  my arm is hurting from patting myself on the back...