Pork, shrimp, and vegetables are folded into a paper-thin lumpia wrapper and then fried to crisp golden perfection in this traditional recipe for Filipino lumpia. Almost 30 years ago, I tasted lumpia for the first time and I fell in love with them at first bite.
Filipino Lumpia
Unfortunately, I lost touch with the friend who introduced them to me. Luckily, I remembered lumpia a few years ago and realized that I might be able to make them at home.
Then I ran into a problem. Where would I find the recipe? I looked online and didn’t find anything that sounded quite right. The lumpia I remembered was not your average eggroll.
There wasn’t cabbage or an abundance of vegetables in them. I simply remembered that there were a lot of different flavors packed into a very thin wrapper.
I mentioned my lumpia craving to a friend, (thanks, Sandra!) who told me to look for one of her friends on Facebook. I did that and proceeded to message back and forth with her friend, Irene, who was happy to chat about lumpia recipes for a bit to make sure I had it right.
The lumpia turned out fabulously and my middle son immediately requested them for his birthday meal the following year. We like to serve lumpia with this simple Asian-inspired Rice and bowls of Egg Drop Soup.
In my house, a birthday request is the very highest of food compliments. Everyone in the family devoured these and my youngest actually cried when they were gone. There wasn’t a single one left or we probably would have eaten more.
Over the years, I’ve made traditional lum