Reader's Recipe: Lumpia

YumSugar — Tue, 06 Feb 2007 07:59:16 -0800

Have you ever had lumpia? Have you even heard of lumpia? It's a delicious Filipino pastry much like a spring roll. Its lovely taste and (relatively) easy prep has made it one of the staples in Filipino cooking. And now, thanks to reader jennifer76, you can make it in your own home! To check out a delicious lumpia recipe (complete with pictures), read more

Recipe submitted by jennifer76

Lumpia is a Filipino style egg roll. We had a friend who used to make KILLER lumpia for bbq's back in Hawaii, but since she's going all Marie Barone on me and slacking on getting me the recipe, I had to resort to the Internet. I found this recipe on AllRecipes.com and tweaked it a little bit.

♥ 1 tablespoon sesame oil
♥ 1 pound 93% lean ground beef
♥ 1 heaping tsp crushed garlic
♥ 3/4 cup chopped onion
♥ 1/2 cup finely grated carrots
♥ 1/2 cup thinly sliced napa cabbage
♥ 1 heaping teaspoon ground black pepper
♥ 1 teaspoon salt
♥ dash garlic salt
♥ 1 teaspoon soy sauce
♥ 30 lumpia wrappers
♥ buncha canola oil for frying

In case you're not familiar with napa cabbage...

Here it be.

Chop up your veggies.

Why did I take a picture of this?

Heat 1 tbs sesame oil in a large skillet over med high heat. Brown hamburger. Make sure you break it up into small pieces.

No chunky meat.

Remove the meat from pan. If you use 93% lean hamburger meat, you shouldn't have to drain the pan. Add garlic and onions and cook for about 2 minutes. Stir in the cooked meat, carrots, and cabbage. Season with pepper, salt, garlic salt, and soy sauce. Stir just long enough to unclump your grated carrot then remove from heat. Set aside to cool.

You should be able to find lumpia wrappers in the frozen section of your grocery store. Probably near where they keep the pot stickers, gyoza, egg rolls, etc... You REALLY want the individually separated kind. Rolling lumpia is very much like rolling burritos.

You can keep them in your fridge. They have to be thawed before you use them.

Peel off the paper CAREFULLY.

Put about a tablespoon and a half of your filling near one end of the wrapper.

Make sure you leave space on either side.

Fold over the edge and squeeze the filling into a thin tube.

Ignore the Christmas themed plastic wrap on my counter.

Fold each side of the wrapper in.

Then roll, roll, roll...just make sure you keep it very tight. Wet the end of the wrapper to seal.

You'll want to roll them all before you start frying, as they cook VERY quickly. Cover them with plastic wrap as you go, so they don't dry out. Heat a heavy skillet over medium heat with canola oil to 1/2 inch depth. Use your tongs and slide 3 or 4 lumpia into the oil. Fry for 1 to 2 minutes, until all sides are golden brown. Drain on paper towels over a cookie cooling rack.

Just for y'all, I worked on my presentation this time. Of course, the fam just got theirs dumped on a plate.

You can also make dessert lumpia. Cut a peeled banana in half, then quarter the halves. Put a quarter in a lumpia wrapper. Add lots of butter, sprinkle some sugar then cinnamon. Roll and fry like the others. Just keep them separate or you'll never know what you're gonna bite into.

I forgot to take a picture of the dipping sauce. We like to use Jafran Sweet Chili Sauce but I forgot to buy it. So I just made our gyoza dipping sauce with sesame oil, soy sauce, rice vinegar, minced garlic, minced ginger and chili garlic sauce.

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Little Louross Leaves Hell

partysugar — Thu, 29 May 2008 09:00:20 -0700

On this week's Hell's Kitchen, Louross - the self proclaimed "little Filipino kid who no listens to" - was asked to hang his chef's coat and leave the competition. I was bummed to see Louross go, but looked forward to speaking with the quick chef. Yesterday morning we chatted about Ramsay, Jen, and everything in between. To take a look at our conversation, read more.

PartySugar: How did it feel to be eliminated?
Louross: You know what, I'm bummed. You should be interviewing Jen right now. It was a trip. It didn't hit me until I left through the doors. Petrozza eliminated me. I was kicked off before Mattie, before Jen. Are you serious? I understand why Petrozza did that. It's a competition and he eliminated threat. He played his cards right.

PS: Is Gordon Ramsay really as big of a jerk as he seems?
Louross: No I don't think so. I learned a lot from him. He pushes you for success. Even if he calls you a donkey, it's like he is your parent and he's giving you tough love.

PS: What was the dynamic like between the team when Jen joined?
Louross: The dynamic went down a lot. All of a sudden she was taking charge. You know it's not the Jen show. She was saying so much crap, she was like Ben - all talk. She didn't know what she was talking about. I tried to keep it real, but I knew. Literally, I looked at Bobby and Petrozza and thought she is going to be like poison. I could feel it.
PS: Do you feel like you were a scapegoat?
Louross: Honestly the people that wanted to listen to me and took my advice - Craig, Jason, Matt, Dominic - the reason we got along was because we were in the same room. Bobby and Petrozza were plotting against us. They didn't want to work together as a team. I told them, Ramsay is giving us the answer, he's telling us to work together. The prize is not a solo project, you are going to have to work together with others. So I stuck to my guns and tried to work as a team.

PS: Who are you rooting for?
Louross: Actually, I'm rooting for the girls side - Christina and Corey. Those girls are soldiers at heart. When it comes to the kitchen. Corey and Christina both cook from their heart and know what they are doing. Bobby and Petrozza? They are getting old. Christina and Corey are still young and have a lot going for them.

PS: Would you like to say anything to your fans?
Louross: To my fans: much love and support. I know everyone was pissed off when I left. That decision was like, what the hell? Thank you for your support, and come see me if you want. I'm the chef at my own kitchen. I'm at the Ritz Carlton in Lake Las Vegas at the Galileo Lobby Lounge. I'm making bar food, but you know come on down.

Photos courtesy of Fox.