Winter Lumpia

Let's talk about lumpia (pronounced as loom-pi-yuh), which is a favorite among Filipinos. It is basically a deep fried spring roll filled with vegetables, some ground meat, and perhaps some shrimp. My mom makes the best vegetable and meat or shrimp lumpias. I have made those before too but just never blogged about it because the directions are quite tedious to write. Sorry… I can be really lazy sometimes.

One of these days, I will make the traditional lumpia recipe and share it with you all, but for now, I would like to introduce you to my winter lumpia. Hmmm... Weird, considering we don't have winter in the Philippines. But hey, I am in the US now and since I like cooking with seasonal ingredients, gotta use what's in season! So this winter lumpia showcases the gorgeous purple cabbage and parsnip and is backed by regular staples like garlic, onion, and bell pepper. Not the lumpia that I grew up eating (that's very special too and I promise to share it in the future), but something that I know my mom will be proud of when she tastes it.

Before I proceed to describe lumpia and how awesome it is, I want to make sure that you get the right wrapper. Most often, you can buy lumpia wrappers at Asian stores and they are usually refrigerated. Do make sure that the packaging says “Lumpia Wrapper” with the words "spring roll wrapper" in parentheses. You do not want to use egg roll wrappers, those are different!   

Lumpia requires a lot of preparation time and some affinity for dealing with grease and splattering. There's chopping involved, some stir frying, wrapping (which for me is the best part), and deep frying. Do not let all this daunt you though, please don’t! Once you taste it, you will know that it is well worth all the effort!

A good lumpia should have two main characteristics: it has to have a flavorful filling and a nice, crispy exterior. I love the flaky wrapper that gently crunches in your mouth. Each bite is a combination of that and the savory filling inside. The tenderized purple cabbage, which tastes bolder than its green cousin, and the earthy sweetness of parsnip go very well together. The combination becomes even better when doused with an Asian marinade then wrapped in a thin, flaky, egg roll that gets deep fried in hot, hot oil. It is a perfect winter appetizer... Earthy, savory, greasy, and just plain delicious!

 

There are many sauces that go well with lumpia and people prefer different sauces for various kinds of lumpia. Soy sauce and vinegar, sweet chili sauce, vinegar with salt and pepper, or ketchup. For this lumpia, I accidentally concocted a sauce that's absolutely great with it and I encourage you to try it too.

Be ready to read super lengthy directions. If you have no patience for the folding directions, just learn from the pictures. I just want to make sure that you produce a perfectly crunchy lumpia that you will love! 

Winter Fried Lumpia

1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon rice wine vinegar
1/2 teaspoon fish sauce

2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 small onion, sliced
1 lb cabbage (I used purple cabbage), sliced thinly
1/2 teaspoon salt
a few grinds of black pepper
1 parsnip, julienned
1/2 large bell pepper, julienned
1/4 cup fresh parsley, roughly chopped

lumpia wrappers


In a small mixing bowl, stir together the soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, and fish sauce. Set this marinade aside.

Heat olive oil in a large pan over medium heat. When the oil is hot but not smoking, cook the garlic just until it turns a nice golden color. Cook the onion for about 3 minutes until it is almost translucent. Toss in the cabbage and cook for about 4 minutes until soft. Season with salt and pepper. Add the parsnip and cook for 2 minutes. Stir in the bell pepper and cook for a minute. Toss in the fresh parsley and add the sauce mixture. Cook while stirring often for 3 more minutes.

Turn off the stove and remove pan from heat. Move the stir fry to a large bowl to prevent from further cooking.

Put some water in a small bowl. This water will serve as your glue to help seal the wrapped lumpia. Place two large plates side by side. One plate is for wrapping the lumpia on and the other is for the finished product.

Place a lumpia wrapper on one plate. Scoop a generous spoonful of the filling and line it close to the bottom edge of the lumpia wrapper. Make sure to leave an inch of space on the right, left, and bottom edges so you can fold the lumpia wrapper over the filling. Fold the right and left side edges snugly, holding them down with your fingertips. Use your other hand to fold the bottom edge snugly over the filling. Roll into a log, making sure that the sides remain tucked in. Wet your fingertips with a little bit of the water and pat it on the flap to help seal the lumpia. Lay it on the other plate, flap side down to put weight on it so it doesn't unroll. Repeat the process and make as many lumpias until you run out of filling. See the pictures.

 

 

 

 

Before cooking the lumpia, prepare a serving plate lined with a paper towel or two to soak up the excess oil from the cooked lumpia.

Pour canola oil into a nonstick pan, just until it covers the entire bottom of the pan. When the oil is very hot, but not smoking, place 3-4 lumpias in the pan, depending on how big it is. Do not overcrowd, you want your lumpia to brown evenly and to be manageable when you start turning them. Cook each side for 1-2 minutes, depending on how fast the wrapper turns golden brown. Use tongs to carefully flip the lumpia. Keep a watchful eye especially after you have cooked a few batches because the oil tends to get really hot which causes the lumpia to brown faster. You may need to lower down the heat and add more oil when you are running low. When you add oil, allow it to heat up before cooking another batch. Otherwise, the lumpia wrapper won't turn out crispy. The sides and ends might not brown as well, so use your tongs to hold the uncooked edges down into the oil for a couple seconds to make sure the entire surface of your lumpia is evenly browned.

Spicy Lumpia Dipping Sauce

1 teaspoon soy sauce

½ teaspoon chili paste
½ teaspoon ketchup
generous squeeze of fresh lemon

In a small bowl, stir the soy sauce, chili paste, and ketchup together. Squeeze a generous amount of fresh lemon juice to taste. The lemon juice works very well at cutting the oiliness of the lumpia.  

 A somewhat healthy pub food right in your own kitchen, Filipino style!

Polenta Cakes with Garlicky Mushrooms + Astrid and Veronika Book Review

This weekend flew by pretty darn fast! It was a fun one… lots of baking and cooking, a foggy hike, a delicious brunch at home with good friends, too much yoga (never!), a sunny walk, and heart to heart talks.

I also finished reading the sweetest book about a loving friendship between two women who couldn’t be more different from each other, Astrid and Veronika, by Linda Olsson. This beautifully written novel tugged my heart and touched me deeply. I highly recommend it!

…for the day is you,

and the light is you,

the sun is you,

and all the beautiful, beautiful

awaiting life is you.

-Karin Boye, Morning… an excerpt from Astrid’s letter to Veronika  

My weekend also involved some polenta cakes and garlicky mushrooms… Sandra of Meadows Cooks picked this week’s Food Matter’s Project recipe. I actually read the recipe ahead of time, thank goodness, so I had time to allow the creamy polenta to set in the fridge. It took some will power to not eat it by the spoonful right out of the pot.

The creamy polenta is good enough, but when toasted and topped with mushrooms stir-fried with lots of garlic and some wine, it totally takes on a new character! I love the bit of crunch on the outside of the toasted polenta and the softness and creaminess inside. The mushrooms are meaty, juicy, and so full of flavor! This dish is so perfect for the season, earthy and comforting. Very satisfying without being overwhelming… definitely the kind of food that warms your heart.

Check out Sandra’s post to read the original Mark Bittman recipe and see what the other FMP members came up with at our website. 

Now I am off to spend the rest of my evening snuggling on the couch with DFJ, watching Downton Abbey and drinking tea. Hope you all have a great week my friends!  

Winter Adventure in Winthrop, WA

Being a teacher has many perks and one of which is getting to enjoy three-day weekends! DFJ and I went on a winter adventure weekend in Winthrop. It is an adorable little town in the Okanogan County in Washington. When I met my friend, Emily, for dinner last month, she mentioned how much she loves Winthrop. If there’s anyone who loves the outdoors the most and knows the best places for adventures, that would be Emily. I woke up early on Saturday morning feeling listless and bored, so I started looking up Winthrop and had the greatest desire to go cross country skiing. Since I tried downhill skiing last year and didn’t really enjoy it, I wanted to give winter sports another shot and thought maybe something less nerve-racking, like cross country skiing might be my thing. Plans were made and we decided to drive to Winthrop early Sunday morning, stay the night, snowshoe, cross country ski, eat, drink, and have fun!   

First stop was at Sun Mountain Lodge to rent snowshoes. We snowshoed around the Sun Mountain trails for two hours and absolutely enjoyed it. The view of the surrounding mountains heavily blanketed in snow with clear, blue skies and orange-pink sunset hues was breathtaking!

Snowshoeing requires some resolution to just put on your boots, strap them into your snow shoes, and brave the cold and the snow. Only then will you realize how pleasant and calming it is, just like hiking. I love how snowshoeing allows me to trudge along, uphill and downhill, in deep snow without slipping and sliding. 

After the long drive and playing around in the snow, we finally checked in at our hotel, Duck Brand Inn. Our room was very cozy, charming, and clean. I love the red doors and the wooden staircase that leads to the parking lot. 

We had dinner at the Old Schoolhouse Brewery. This place is pretty awesome! They have delicious burgers and great beer. Be prepared to enter with a very hungry belly because the servings are giant.

The next day started out freezing cold and we had a sweet breakfast at the Rocking Horse Bakery, which was right across our hotel. Their coffee is very good and so are all the breakfast treats! I wish my stomach had room for everything but my bran muffin was a very good choice.

After breakfast, we dressed in our ski gear and drove to the Community Trail Park and did some practice runs around the track for an hour. DFJ and I are both beginners at this sport and since we were on our own, practicing really helped us understand what we were doing (or so we think). 
  

We headed off to Big Valley Ranch afterwards for 5 miles of cross country skiing (sans trail pass fees!). I have never had so much fun while getting a great workout at the same time! Despite the pain and the soreness that I’m suffering through right now, I realized that cross country skiing is something that I really enjoyed and look forward to doing more often in the next couple of years. Working hard in the bitter cold felt invigorating and gliding through the woods with sparkling snow everywhere made me feel at peace with the world.

DFJ and I were exhausted at the end of the loop and we both just wanted to get out of our sweaty gear and grab some food. After we returned our skis and changed into fresh clothes, we stopped for a late lunch at East 20 Pizza before our long drive home. Their pizza is amazing! One half was the sausage with spicy pineapple and the other was portabella with goat cheese… yummm! East 20 pizzas are heavy with toppings yet the crust remains nice and crispy. Every bite was simply delightful! 

Before we drove off, we went back into town to look around for a bit and grab some coffee for the road. After that, everything was a blur as I spent a good part of the drive home sleeping my tiredness away. DFJ is the best chauffer.

Winthrop is a winter wonderland! It offers all the cold weather outdoor activities you could dream of doing. During these trying times in our lives, the snow covered hills and mountains of Winthrop showed us that being one with the earth is the perfect way to rejuvenate our souls. 

Cheers to the first of our 2013 adventures DFJ!         

Chicken Jook with Lots of Vegetables

Happy Food Matters Project Monday friends! This week’s recipe, Chicken Jook with Lots of Vegetables, chosen by Erin of The Goodness Life, is a childhood favorite of mine. Of course in our Cebuano vernacular, it doesn’t sound this fancy, it is merely lugaw or at restaurants, the more appropriate Chinese name, congee. This rice porridge dish always warmed my belly and warranted seconds and thirds. You would think that growing up in hot and humid Philippines, soups aren’t a hit, but they are, especially this. The aroma of lugaw cooking in my mom’s kitchen was one of the best smells ever and I didn’t realize how much I have missed it until now.  For the longest time, I never thought to recreate my mom’s lugaw. How did I ever forget about it? Thank you Erin for taking me back home!

I followed Mark Bittman’s original recipe closely with a few minor changes:

- I used one chicken thigh instead of three
- I used 1 and ½ cups homemade chicken stock along with 4 and ½ cups of water to cook the rice
- I used three cups of bok choy, instead of just two cups of cabbage

Mosey on over to Erin’s blog for the original recipe and make sure to check out what the other FMP members came up with!  

This rice porridge is heart-warmingly delicious! The ginger really gives it a good warmth and the gravy-like broth is so full of all the flavors that everyone loves in Asian food. Each bite is a delightful mixture of thick broth, chewy rice, and crunchy vegetables.

I made this rice porridge on Saturday night before DFJ and I went on a winter adventure (more on that later). Whenever I started forgetting about how much fun we were having as we plodded and skied in the cold for the past two days, I daydreamed about this. DFJ and I just got home an hour ago and we shared a warm bowl of goodness. Doing my FMP homework before leaving town was the best idea ever!

 Have a great week everyone!