Guamainian-style Lumpia

Lumpia is fiesta food. In Guam, every special occasion includes lumpia. It is happy food! Mounding trays of lumpia fried with love. Not to mention tables and tables of other wonderful dishes. In our family, we have trimmed the calories by oven-frying rather than deep frying the lumpia. The recipe adapts very well.

1-1.5 lbs. Ground pork or pork chopped fine (can use shrimp, too)

Garlic – lots like 5-6 big cloves
3-4 T. Soy sauce or to taste
Ground pepper- lots

1 Onion, large, finely chopped
1/2 head large Cabbage finely chopped
2 Carrots - shredded
1 Bell pepper, finely chopped
Bean sprouts (optional)
Salt & pepper to taste

1 egg
Lumpia wrappers (purchase from Filipino store) or Egg roll wrappers (not as good)

Finely chop all veggies except sprouts.
Brown pork w/ garlic and soy sauce until done. Remove from stove.
Add veggies and mix thoroughly w/hot mixture. Let cool.

Drain mixture very well (you don’t want a wet mixture when deep frying)

Roll mixture in lumpia wrappers burrito style. You do not want any filing to leak out as it will make a mess when you fry them. Use egg to glue the lumpia wrapper closed.

Scramble the egg and use it to glue the wrapper shut.

Use wax paper between layers of lumpia so they do not stick together.

***Deep fry lumpia until golden brown.

The beauty of lumpia is you can put anything you want in them. I have had many Filipino style. They can be meat only, veggie, or potato – those are the most common I have had. Guam style is more like a big eggroll, but better.

*** Oven-fried lumpia works very well. Preheat oven to 500 deg. Place lumpia on a jelly roll pan and spray with cooking oil spray. Turn the lumpia over and spray the other side. Bake for 10 min or until golden brown and turn the lumpia over and brown the other side.

Lumpia wrappers generally come in 100 count so I always make a big batch and freeze the extra lumpia. Make sure to separate the lumpia w/ wax paper before you freeze. You can fry them frozen.

Sweet and Sour Sauce

1/2 c. Brown sugar
2 T. cornstarch
1/2 c. cider vinegar
11/2 c. pineapple juice
2 T. soy sauce

Cook over medium heat, stirring, until sauce thickens and becomes clear.