Weekend Recipe: Fresh Lumpia

Today I’ll show you how to make one of my favorite staple foods. Fresh lumpia comes in different varieties. There’s the minty Thai version, the light Filipino version, but my absolute favorite is the delicious Vietnamese version. I like to have this right after a good run because it’s heavy in refined carbs, but also has some lean protein and healthy fats thrown in for good measure. It’s just what your body needs to replenish those glycogen stores.

INGREDIENTS
(makes 4 servings)

for lumpia:
8 large dry rice papers (or 16 small ones)
2 cups rice noodles (boiled and strained)
4 pieces romaine lettuce
1 cup bean sprouts
2 pork chops (vegetarians can substitute with tofu [I’m looking at you, TOOTS!])
12 pieces cocktail shrimp
1 tsp sesame oil
1/2 cup hot water

for dipping sauce:
hoisin
peanut butter
club soda

To prepare the ingredients first rinse your veggies. Cook rice noodles to the recommended time on its package and strain. Slice and salt pork to taste and steam; trim the fat. Then butterfly your shrimp all the way in half.

Add hot water and sesame oil in a deep-ish plate. Dip rice paper for about 5 seconds on each side making sure all ends are covered in the mixture; try not to soak the wrapper for too long ’cause it’ll soften as you add the filling. Lay it out on a flat surface like a cutting board or in this case, a sushi roller. *Note: I’m using 2 small overlapping pieces of rice paper. You can also use 1 large piece instead—it’s actually easier—but our grocery store was sold out.

Now, about 2 inches from the end of your wrapper, layer your lettuce, rice noodles, bean sprouts, pork, and more rice noodles in that order. Try not to overload on ingredients because it might make the wrapping part a toughie. Fold the 2 inch excess wrapper tautly over ingredients, then do the same for each side. Roll once.

Then lay 2-3 pieces of shrimp orange side up just above the wrapped portion and roll ’til the end. Done. You can repeat the same process for as many pieces of lumpia you like.

For the sauce, I didn’t make any precise measurements, but instead mixed just about equal parts hoisin and peanut butter (maybe a little more peanut butter, I love peanut butter!). With club soda, I diluted the mixture until it reached the consistency of a creamy salad dressing like Ranch. I’m pretty sure restaurants use 7-up, but didn’t want to add any unnecessary sugar to an already sweet mixture.

Serve immediately and enjoy ^_^ om nom nom!