Lumpia Shanghai is a staple Filipino appetizer that you can find in gatherings or parties, and there’s a reason why this dish is so popular!
What is Lumpia Shanghai?
There are different types of Lumpia – for instance, in Indonesia, we have our own version of Lumpia which is filled with bamboo shoots. Lumpia Shanghai is a little different from the generic Lumpia or egg rolls. Lumpia Shanghai is smaller in size and tends to be meatier, which keeps you wanting more. Wrapped in a spring roll pastry wrapper, this crispy deep-fried appetizer is hard to resist!
Lumpia Shanghai Fillings
As mentioned before, Lumpia Shanghai tends to me meatier than other Lumpia types. Our go-to protein for Lumpia Shanghai is ground pork mixed with chopped shrimp. For those of you who enjoy the texture of the shrimp when biting into your Lumpia, feel free to chop your shrimp into bigger chunks.
Of course, we don’t want to forget to put in our veggies and aromatics into our Lumpia Shanghai as well. We love adding onion, green onions, garlic and carrot. All of these are chopped into tiny pieces. Although when chopping the onion, be careful not to chop too much that it becomes mushy.
You also would want to season your Lumpia Shanghai with oyster sauce, pepper and chicken bouillon powder. This will definitely pop and enhance the flavor of this appetizer. To bind everything together, add one egg and then mix everything together until all of the Lumpia fillings are combined evenly. Then, let it marinade in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
Time to Wrap the Lumpia Shanghai
If you haven’t made Lumpia before or have no experience in wrapping egg rolls, there’s no need to worry! Wrapping your Lumpia Shanghai is actually really easy. But first, you need to use the right wrapper. You can use any spring roll pastry wrapper but our favorite one is Spring Home’s TYJ Spring Roll Pastry. Make sure it’s labelled pastry wrapper and not spring roll skin (you want the one that you can deep fry).
To wrap, start by laying a sheet of the wrapper on a flat surface – a table or chopping board. Place it diagonally so that one of the edges is close to you. You can simply use your tablespoon to transfer the Lumpia filling from the bowl to the wrapper or you can also place all of the filling in a piping bag like we did. We find that using a piping bag gives a neater look and it’s easier to roll.
Place no more than 2 tablespoons of the Lumpia filling on the wrapper. You want to place the fillings horizontally across the wrapper (a little above the corner that’s closest to you). Then, start rolling the wrapper forward and pause when you are midway. Make sure to fold the two edges on the side inwards before continuing to roll forward again.
When you are about to reach the last corner, dip your finger in a bowl of whisked egg and dab it on the two sides of the wrapper next to the last corner. This will act as a seal for your Lumpia Shanghai so the filling is secure.
Frying Lumpia Shanghai
Now that we have wrapped the Lumpia Shanghai, it’s ready to be deep fried. First, heat up the cooking oil in a wok or a pan on medium high heat. Once it is warm enough and ready, cut the Lumpia Shanghai into half with a scissor before frying it. Fry for about 6 minutes until it turns golden brown in color. You want to allow enough time for the meat inside to be fully cooked as well.
Enjoy your Lumpia Shanghai
Once it is out of the oil, dab the fried Lumpia Shanghai with paper towel to get rid of any excess oil. We love eating this with sweet chili sauce as an appetizer – enjoy
ingredients:
- 1 lb ground Pork
- ¼ lb Shrimp
- ½ Onion
- 4 Green onions
- 3 cloves Garlic
- ½ stalk carrot
- 2 tbsp Oyster sauce
- 1/2 tbsp Chicken bouillon powder
- 2 eggs (1 for filling, 1 for the wrapper)
- ¼ tsp Pepper
- ½ tsp salt
- 3-4 cups of cooking oil
- 20 – 30 spring roll pastry wrappers
steps:
- First, start by mincing up all of your vegetables (carrots, onions, green onions, garlic) as well as the shrimp. Make sure it is chopped to very thin and small pieces.
- Place the ground pork in a separate big bowl and add the minced vegetable and shrimp into it.
- Next, we will season the lumpia filling by adding the chicken bouillon powder, oyster sauce, egg, salt and pepper. Then mix and combine everything thoroughly.
- After the filling is fully mixed, refrigerate for at least 30 mins to let it marinade. The longer, the better.
- After you have finished marinating the filling, take it out of the fridge. To start wrapping, lay a sheet of the spring roll pastry wrapper on a flat surface. Make sure one of the corner is pointing at you.
- Use either a piping bag to pipe the filling across the wrapper horizontally, or transfer the filling from the bowl to the spring roll wrapper with a tablespoon.
- Then, roll the lumpia, starting from the corner closest to you. Fold the edges when you have rolled it midway, so the open edges are wrapped inwards. Before rolling all the way to the opposite corner, make sure to dab or brush some egg wash at the corner so it acts like a glue to secure the filling inside.
- Finally, prepare the oil to deep fry the lumpia at medium to high heat. Before dropping the lumpia into the oil, cut the lumpia into half and then fry for 5-6 minutes or until it is crispy brown and golden. Serve with sweet chili sauce and enjoy!
Lumpia Shanghai
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground pork
- 1/4 lb shrimp
- 1/2 Onion
- 4 Green Onions
- 3 cloves garlic
- 1/2 stalk carrot
- 2 tbsp Oyster sauce
- 1/2 tbsp Chicken Bouillon powder
- 2 eggs 1 for Lumpia filling, 1 for pastry wrapper
- 1/4 tsp Pepper
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 3-4 cups cooking oil
- 25-30 Spring roll pastry wrappers
Instructions
- First, start by mincing up all of your vegetables (carrots, onions, green onions, garlic) as well as the shrimp. Make sure it is chopped to very thin and small pieces.
- Place the ground pork in a separate big bowl and add the minced vegetable and shrimp into it.
- Next, we will season the lumpia filling by adding the chicken bouillon powder, oyster sauce, egg, salt and pepper. Then mix and combine everything thoroughly.
- After the filling is fully mixed, refrigerate for at least 30 mins to let it marinade. The longer, the better.
- After you have finished marinating the filling, take it out of the fridge. To start wrapping, lay a sheet of the spring roll pastry wrapper on a flat surface. Make sure one of the corner is pointing at you.
- Use either a piping bag to pipe the filling across the wrapper horizontally, or transfer the filling from the bowl to the spring roll wrapper with a tablespoon.
- Then, roll the lumpia, starting from the corner closest to you. Fold the edges when you have rolled it midway, so the open edges are wrapped inwards. Before rolling all the way to the opposite corner, make sure to dab or brush some egg wash at the corner so it acts like a glue to secure the filling inside.
- Finally, prepare the oil to deep fry the lumpia at medium to high heat. Before dropping the lumpia into the oil, cut the lumpia into half and then fry for 5-6 minutes or until it is crispy brown and golden. Serve with sweet chili sauce and enjoy!
