Filipino Lumpia

Photo: flickr user DaveFayram

Ingredients

2 taespoons minced garlic

cup chicken broth

2 tablespoons soy sauce

2 tablespoons rice vinegar

cup brown sugar - (packed)

2 tablespoons cornstarch dissolved in

2 tablespoons water

1 chinese sausage - (abt 2 oz)

1 medium russet potato

1 small carrot

4 ounces jicama

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 tablespoon minced garlic

1 teaspoon minced ginger

pound lean ground pork

1 cup shredded Chinese (napa) cabbage

1 small chayote peeled, shredded

3 green onions/ including tops slivered

2 tablespoons chicken broth if needed

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1 tablespoon dry sherry or Chinese rice wine

1 teaspoon sesame oil

1 teaspoon cornstarch dissolved in

2 taespoons water

8 spring rolls or lumpia wrappers

1 egg lightly beaten

Oil for deep frying

8 lettuce leaves for garnish

Preparation

Combine the dipping sauce ingredients (except the cornstarch solution) in a small saucepan and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Add the cornstarch solution and cook, stirring, until the sauce boils and thickens. Remove from the heat

Cut the sausage, potato, carrot, and jicama into matchstick pieces. Place a wok or wide frying pan over medium-high heat until hot. Add 2 tablespoons of oil, swirling to coat the sides of the pan. Add the garlic and ginger and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 10 seconds. Add the pork, sausage, and potato and stir-fry until the pork is browned and crumbly and the potato is soft, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the cabbage, chayote, carrot, jicama, and green onions; stir-fry until the carrot is crisp-tender, abo

Lay a wrapper on the table with one corner toward you; keep the remaining wrappers covered to prevent drying. Mound about 1/3 cup of filling across the middle of the wrapper, stopping 1 inch from the corners. Fold the bottom corner the filling to cover, then fold over the right and left corners. Roll over once to enclose the filling. Brush the remaining triangle of the wrapper with egg and fold over to seal. Cover the filled lumpia with a damp cloth while filling the remaining wrappers.

Heat the oven to 200 degrees. Set a wok in a ring stand and add vegetable oil to a depth of about 2 inches. Heat the oil to 360 degrees; adjust the heat to medium-high. Fry the lumpia, half at a time, turning occasionally, until golden brown, 2 to 3 minutes. Keep the fried rolls warm in the oven while cooking the remaining rolls. Meanwhile, reheat the dipping sauce. Serve the lumpia on a platter lined with lettuce leaves. Serve the dipping sauce alongside.

This recipe yields 8 rolls.

Comments: Many Southeast Asian countries enjoy variations of the Chinese egg roll; Lumpia is the delicate Filipino version. Lumpia wrappers are thinner than egg roll wrappers. You can purchase them, frozen, in Asian markets.

Yield: 8 rolls