March 23, 2010

Fresh Spring Rolls

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Fresh Spring Rolls

Fried or fresh spring roll is perhaps the food Filipinos are most identified with. Our lumpia wrapper, made with just 2 ingredients, flour and water, in my opinion is the best spring roll wrapper. Because it is very thin it becomes crispy when fried and so light when used as wrapper for vegetable fresh spring rolls.

I made fresh spring rolls with tofu and chickpeas instead of the usual prawns and pork. Because I heart tofu I'm not the least bit surprised that I love this vegan version. I don't eat eat tofu every day but I don't mind having it once a week.

Lumpiang Sariwa

Fresh Spring Rolls
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 garlic cloves, chopped
½ cup onion, sliced thin
1 cup fried tofu, coarsely chopped
1 vegetable cube
3 tablespoons water
1 teaspoons sea salt, or to taste
¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
1 cup green beans, julienned
1 cup cabbage, shredded
1 cup carrots, julienned
1 cup sweet potato or jicama, julienned
1 cup cooked garbanzos (chickpeas)
¼ cup chopped roasted peanuts, optional
curly green lettuce
store bought lumpia wrapper
brown sauce
minced garlic
  • In a wok or large sauce pan, heat the oil and stir fry garlic and onion for 2 minutes or until onion is translucent. Add the vegetable cube and 1 tablespoon water and stir until cube has dissolved. Add the rest of the vegetables except garbanzos and lettuce.. Cook for 3 minutes, stirring occasionally until vegetables are tender. Add the garbanzos and stir until garbanzos are heated through. Transfer into a bowl and let cool slightly.
  • Separate the wrappers and steam one at a time over simmering water or in the microwave oven covered with wet towel until soft, about 20 seconds. Lay a lettuce leaf in the middle of the wrapper leaving a few inches off the bottom. Spoon vegetable filling on top of the lettuce, and sprinkle with a teaspoon of peanuts if using. Fold the bottom of the wrapper over the bottom of the lettuce and wrap one side over the filling. Wrap the other side to cover completely, leaving the top exposed. Serve with brown sauce and minced garlic.
Brown Sauce
½ cup sugar
1½ cups water
1½ tablespoons soy sauce
1½ tablespoons cornflour
  • Caramelize the sugar in a medium stainless steel saucepan. In a small container, mix soy sauce, cornflour and a little of the water until cornflour is dissolved. Add to the rest of the water. When the sugar has caramelized to a slightly dark brown color, add the water mixture; it will bubble. Let it come to a simmer over medium heat, stirring and scraping the hard sugar constantly until the mixture becomes clear. Transfer into a gravy boat or serving container.
I read somewhere that lumpia wrapper is made with equal parts flour and water. The mixture is brushed thinly on a moderately warm skillet and more of the mixture is brushed on until it is thin enough and cooked just until the edges are dry. I tried making with just half a cup each but it was a FAIL, not epic but still a fail. Some parts were too thick and the edges were too thin. I was just curious and now I know it's not that easy to make flour lumpia wrapper.

This post is for Lasang Pinoy Sundays Chiclet a weekly gallery of food photography, Pinoy style, hosted by Spices.


8 comments:

caninecologne said...

hi oggi
your fresh spring rolls look amazing! i was at a party recently and they had that! this is one of my favorite Filino dishes.

my parents used to make this a long time ago for parties - they made their own wrappers on a flat table top griddle.

Oggi said...

R, thanks.

Do they make them with just flour and water or the one with egg and cornflour like a crepe? I'd like to know how the flour/water is cooked so thin.

Kitchen Butterfly said...

I like..looks healthy, delish and can be gobbled in minutes......

SallyBR said...

They look awesome, Oggi!

It is indeed "that" time of the year, the fresh rolls will be on our menu soon, I am absolutely addicted to them

caninecologne said...

hi oggi- i think they used flour and water but i will ask them just to make sure. love the new look of your blog too.

Oggi said...

Kitchen Butterfly, yes these are very light; delicious too.:)

Sally, thanks. What are you up too lately? Baked any breads yet?:)

R, thanks. I'm not sure if this theme is permanent because I have two more designs I'm still playing with.:)

Mirage said...

oh my, the top photo had me at hello...haha I wanna eat that now!

Oggi said...

G, it looks yummy and it is.:)

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