Spring roll (Lumpiang Shanghai)

Spring rolls come in all sorts of sizes. They also have all sorts of fillings. In the Philippines, they also come in different varieties and recipes which is locally termed as ’lumpia’. This variety of which the recipe I will be sharing is known specifically as ‘Lumpiang Shanghai’. A versatile dish which you can customize to your own taste. This one I reduced the meat content by replacing some of the ground meat with tofu. Still tastes almost similar to the 100% meat spring rolls minus some of the fats.

Ingredients

100 pcs. Spring roll wrappers

¼ kg Lean pork (roughly ground)

3 pcs. Dried shiitake mushrooms (hydrated in about 1/3 cup of water)

¼ kg Tofu (hard, minced into fine cubes)

1 bulb Garlic (fresh, finely minced)

1 pc. Onion (finely minced, medium sized)

¼ cup Celery (finely minced)

¼ cup Carrot (finely minced into small cubes or medium grated)

2 pcs. Eggs (beaten)

3 tbsp. Cornstarch

2 tbsp. Premium dark soy sauce

1 tbsp. Sesame oil

½ tsp. Black pepper (ground)

½ tsp. Iodized salt

2 cups Safflower oil

Cooking Procedure:

Combine all ingredients in a bowl except the spring roll wrapper and sunflower oil. Fold to have uniform mixture. Wrap in spring roll wrapper.

Heat oil in wok or suitable frying pan to near smoke point and fry each of the spring rolls until the wrapper is golden brown. Set aside atop paper towels to absorb excess oil. Enjoy while freshly cooked. It is more appetizing to have it with some dipping sauce like ketchup but the recommended dipping sauce is made of vinegar as follows:

Ingredients for Dipping Sauce:

3 pcs. Garlic (finely minced)

1 pc. Onion (thinly sliced)

1/8 tsp. Black pepper (powder)

½ cup Coconut vinegar

1 pc. Chilli pepper (finely sliced)

1 tbsp. Sugar

¼ tsp. Iodized salt

Preparation of Sauce:

Combine all of the ingredients in a bowl and set aside for approximately 1 hour before use so that flavours are infused into the vinegar. Serve with the spring rolls.