When I try to think back to my earliest memories of my grandmother, the first ones that come to mind are of my cousins and me eating lunch with my grandparents while all our parents were at work. She would always tell me that if I didn’t eat all my rice, it would cry (she still says that, actually) or that I need to stop singing at the table because that means I’ll marry an old man. 😛
My next memories are of her in the kitchen – cutting sitaw (long beans), pulling marunggay leaves for soup, rolling lumpia. I was maybe eight or nine when I got in on the lumpia rolling action, but since then every time she made them, I was right there rolling with her. To this day, she’s still faster at rolling than I am. 
Lumpia is one of those funny things…the first thing people think of when they hear the word “Filipino”…aside from Manny Pacquiao, of course. 😛 When I first meet someone, discovering I’m Filipino is usually followed by, “Oh hey! Pacquiao!” or “Filipino! I love lumpia!” Lumpia is like Filipino food 1.0 – the easiest thing to eat because it’s the most familiar. (Traditional lumpia is a descendant of Chinese spring rolls.) I’m waiting for the day someone says, “Filipino! I love pinapaitan!” For the record, my grandma makes pretty rockin’ pinapaitan. 😉
Grandma always made the traditional Filipino lumpia – cooked pork with peas, carrots and beans rolled tightly in a thin wrapper and fried to golden awesomeness. My mom, on the other hand, always makes my favorite variety – Lumpia Shanghai. Traditional lumpia starts off with pre-cooked meat and/or vegetables which results in a looser filling once fried up. Lumpia Shanghai, on the other hand, is wrapped up while the filling is still raw, which results in a much different texture. It also makes for better finger/party food IMO since you can cut them up into bite sized pieces prior to cooking. {Side note: Despite the name, lumpia shanghai (or lumpiyang shanghai) didn’t actually originate from Shanghai. From what I can tell, this version is entirely Filipino. Weird, huh?}
The raw filling does two other things that I think take it a step above traditional lumpia. 1) It saves time. Not needing to cook the filling first cuts out a whole step, making these come together in a snap. 2) Since the filling is still raw and sticky, you don’t need to tuck in the ends when you wrap. The filling will stay inside even with open ends. In fact, I love the loose ends because they get extra crispy. I’ve seen many people fail at lumpia because they aren’t able to wrap them tight enough. Floppy lumpia = no bueno. With Lumpia Shanghai…who can mess up rolling straight? Well, hopefully not you. 😉
But wait! I’ve got another fun twist for you. I’m all about the curveballs. Not really. I’m actually horrible with surprises. I’m the person who asks you to spoil movies for me because I can’t take the suspense. But the twist! Back to the twist. Normally lumpia is deep fried, which adds to its addictiveness. The problem is I hate deep frying. It stinks up the house, coats the cabinets in a fine layer of grease and leaves my hair smelling like fryer oil for way longer than it should. Grandma has a small stove in her backyard that she uses for frying and cooking fish, which solves two out of three. Me? I have no backyard.
The fix? Baking them! I played around with the times and temperatures and found a way to avoid all the fryer oil and its after-effects while still maintaining the crisp wrapper that makes lumpia so addicting. You’re welcome.
Add in a spicy passion fruit sweet and sour sauce (recipe included. I got your back) and you’ve got the perfect finger food for your next gathering. Just in time for football season! See? Told you I got your back. {Side note: I actually like my lumpia shanghai with spicy, garlicky vinegar, but sweet and sour seems to be the more popular dipping option.}
Baked Lumpia Shanghai with Spicy Passion Fruit Dipping Sauce for #SundaySupper
| Prep time 20 mins | Cook time 30 mins | Total time 50 mins |  |
Author: Joy @ The Joyful Foodie
Serves: about 90 pieces
Ingredients For the lumpia:
- 1 lb ground pork
- 2 carrots, peeled and grated
- 1 small onion, diced small
- 3 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
- 1 egg
- 2 Tbs soy sauce
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 package lumpia/eggroll wrappers
- 1 egg, beaten
For the dipping sauce:
- 2 Tbs passion fruit jam
- 1 tsp Sriracha or sambal oeleck
- 2 tsp apple cider vinegar
- 1 tsp soy sauce
Instructions For the lumpia:
- Thaw lumpia wrappers if necessary.
- Mix together the pork, grated carrots, onion, garlic, 1 egg and soy sauce. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Remove the wrappers from the packaging and slice off any dried or tough edges to make the wrappers easier to separate.
- Place two tablespoons of the pork mixture on one wrapper and tightly roll up until about two inches of wrapper remain.
- Brush the final inch of wrapper with the beaten egg and roll the rest of the way up.
- Repeat until you use up all the filling.
- Slice rolls into fourths to create bite sized pieces.
- Uncooked lumpia can be made ahead of time and frozen.
- To cook, preheat oven to 350F.
- Spread out lumpia on a baking sheet or baking rack and bake for 30 minutes.
For the dipping sauce:
- Mix together jam, sriracha, vinegar and soy sauce until well combined. Increase the quantity of sauce depending on how many lumpia you are serving. The quantities listed will make enough sauce to serve 2-4 people.
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