Crispy Filipino fried spring rolls filled with mixed veggies, pork, beef, and noodles. Usually served as an appetizer or side dish. Lumpia pairs perfectly with sweet chili sauce or shoyu vinegar sauce.
What is Lumpia?
Lumpia is a Filipino spring roll that is usually enjoyed as a snack or appetizer. It is very similar to Chinese and Vietnamese spring rolls but has a distinct taste and ingredients that reflect Filipino foods. It is fried, crunchy, and super delicious.
It is often served at special occasions, big gatherings, and celebrations in Filipino culture. There are so many different filling options making it super versatile and customizeable.
Lumpia in Hawaii
Thanks to the strong influence of Filipino culture in the Hawaiian Islands, Lumpia became a popular dish. It was the Filipino immigrants who brought their culinary traditions to Hawaii, influencing our different foods. Lumpia in Hawaii can also have a variety of fillings such as ground pork, chicken, shrimp, or vegetables. It had become an integral part of the local food scene and brings people together.
How to Make Lumpia
Lumpia is one of my childhood favorite dishes. Its one of the things that you see at every potluck and gathering! Super easy to make and so delicious. My favorite part about making this with my family is that it brought us all together.
My mom, grandma, and aunty would make the filling. Then we’d all wrap the lumpia until the oil was ready for it. Usually, my grandma would fry them because I was too little and the oil would always splatter everywhere.
Ingredients
For the ingredients, most of them you probably have in the pantry or can get at a local grocery store. Recently, I’ve been seeing lumpia wrappers or spring roll wrappers at Safeway as well. If you can’t find some of these then I would recommend a close by Asian market. Sometimes, I also add in SaiFun Bean thread noodles in to the mix because it soaks up a lot of sauce and who doesn’t love noodles?
- Lumpia Wrappers
- Egg
- Vegetable oil
Lumpia Filling
- Ground Pork
- Ground Beef
- Garlic cloves
- Ginger
- Carrots
- Onion
- Celery
- Oyster mushrooms
- Bean Sprouts
- Bean Thread noodles
Sauce
- Chili oil
- Sesame oil
- Shoyu
- Rice Vinegar
Lumpia can be made in so many different ways! You can definitely add your own fillings/take out some to make the your own.
Step by Step
To roll the lumpia, add a generous amount of filling to the bottom corner and start from there. Roll the bottom corner up and once you get past the middle section turn the side corners in. Before you close the lumpia, dip your fingers in the egg and spread it on the top corner so it sticks. Thats it!
Once you keep doing it, you’ll get the hang of it and it’ll go by quickly. Also, don’t add too much filling because the wrapper may not hold as well and it’ll become a mess.To deep fry, add enough vegetable oil to cover the lumpia and fry until a nice golden brown color.
How to Serve It
My family usually brings this to potlucks and serves it with a side of sweet chili sauce but I’ve also seen it served with like a Shoyu savory sauce as well! You don’t need sauce on the side because i feel like this one has a lot of flavor but its a nice option to have.
How to Store It
You can freeze the ones you aren’t going to be using to save it for later! This is such a great dish to make ahead of time because it doesn’t have to be fried right away. For freezing, I place the lumpia on a baking sheet with parchment paper before frying it and stick that in the freezer for about 20 minutes. Once partially frozen, I transfer them to ziplocs so they don’t stick together
These are perfect and easy to make for big gatherings, parties, potlucks, or when you feel like trying something new! They’re so versatile because you can really put whatever you want in them. I’m part Filipino so I know these will always be at parties and I always looked forward to eating them, so I hope you enjoy these as much as I do!
Some of the popular Filipino food spots on Oahu:
- Elena’s Home of Finest Filipino Foods: Located in Waipahu and known for their authentic Filipino comfort food.
- Adela’s Country Eatery: Located in Kaneohe, this spot isn’t a Filipino food spot per se but they do have the best Lechon Malunggay pasta I have ever tasted in my life!
- Julie’Z Restaurant: This was one of the first spots I really got into Filipino food at. I think they’re pretty tasty but they are located in Kapolei which can be pretty far depending on where you’re staying.
Looking for more Hawaii Style recipes? Check these out:
Lumpia
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground pork
- 1 lb ground beef
- 10 cloves garlic minced
- 1 tsp ginger minced
- 2 carrots chopped
- 1 onion chopped
- 3 stalks celery chopped
- 6 oz oyster mshrooms chopped
- 1 tsp salt and pepper
- 12 oz bean sprouts
- 2 tsp chili oil
- 2 tsp sesame oil
- 9 tbsp shoyu (soy sauce)
- 1 Tbsp rice vinegar
- 2 packs lumpia wrappers (25 in each pack, around 35 wrappers will be used)
- 1 egg whisked
- vegetable oil for frying
- 1 bundle bean thread noodles optional
Instructions
- To a big pot add ground pork and ground beef. Cook until halfway done and drain the liquid. (If you are using bean thread noodles then follow directions on package to soften.)
- Add in minced garlic, ginger, chopped carrots, onion, celery, and oyster mushrooms. Mix until well incorporated. Cook until vegetables have softened then add in bean sprouts. If you are using bean thread noodles then add it in as well. Season with salt and pepper.
- Add in the chili oil, sesame oil, shoyu, and rice vinegar. Combine until well mixed and incorporated. Remove from heat at let cool. While cooling set up wrapping station. Whisk egg in small bowl and set aside. Separate all the lumpia wrappers from each other so its easily accessible.
- Start by taking one lumpia wrapper, lay it flat on the surface, and face one corner towards you. Add one heaping spoonful of filling and lay it on the bottom half of the wrapper. Take the bottom corner and fold upwards tucking and rolling the filling. Once you roll it past the top half section take the left and right corners and fold in towards each other. Dip your finger in the eggwash and spread it over the top corner and finish rolling the lumpia. Continue these steps until you have no more filling.
- Freeze lumpia for 20 minutes before deep frying. At this point you can also keep the ones you aren't going to be using in the freezer. I usually place the whole plate or sheet pan in the freezer before transferring the Lumpia into a ziplock bag. That way they don't stick together and its easier to take out one by one.
- Add vegetable oil to pot and place on medium heat. The amount of oil you put should be able to cover the top of the lumpia. Add lumpia once ready and take out when it turns a nice golden brown color (around 10 minutes).
- Drain on paper towel. Serve with sweet chili sauce or shoyu/vinegar sauce. Enjoy!!