Lumpia
Shanghai-style lumpia: slim, shattering pork and shrimp rolls with garlic and water chestnuts, fried to a deep gold and dragged through sweet chile sauce.
The whole recipe in 60 seconds
Lumpia, in 5 ideas
- Lumpia shanghai are the slim ones. Finger-thin, tightly rolled, and cut after frying so the ends stay crisp instead of softening.
- The filling goes in raw and cooks in the roll. Seasoned well and packed thin, it fries through by the time the wrapper shatters.
- Keep the wrappers under a damp towel and work one at a time. A dried lumpia wrapper cracks and will not seal.
- Egg white or water seals the last flap. A loose roll unravels in the oil and takes the filling with it.
- Fry in batches and drain standing up if you can. They stay crisp far longer than rolls left lying in their own steam.
What you need
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground pork
- 8 oz shrimp, peeled and finely chopped
- 4 garlic cloves, grated
- 1 small onion, finely minced
- 1 carrot, grated fine
- 1/2 cup water chestnuts, finely chopped
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 30 thin lumpia or spring roll wrappers
- 1 egg white, lightly beaten
- Oil, for frying
- Sweet chile sauce, to serve
How to make it
Method
Mix the pork, shrimp, garlic, onion, carrot, water chestnuts, soy sauce, pepper and a pinch of salt until well combined and slightly sticky.
Lay a wrapper diamond-wise. Place a slim line of filling, about 1 tablespoon, along the lower third.
Fold the bottom point over the filling, fold in the sides, and roll up tightly. Seal the final flap with egg white. Repeat with the rest.
Heat 1 inch of oil to 350 °F (175 °C). Fry the rolls in batches, turning, for 3 to 4 minutes, until deep golden and crisp all over.
Drain on a rack and rest 2 minutes.
Cut each roll in half on a slant. Serve hot with sweet chile sauce for dipping.
Freeze the rolls raw on a tray, then bag them: they fry from frozen in five minutes for instant party food.