Lumpiang Prito (Filipino Fried Spring/Egg Rolls)

When Marija of Palachinka, host of the beef round-up of Weekend Wokking, declared SPROUTS as the secret ingredient for this month's challenge, I wanted to do more than my usual preparation -- a simple stir-fry or tossing them into a bowl of soup.

I had been craving Cha Gio (Vietnamese Egg Rolls) for a while and figured it was a good a time as any to do a slight variation by making lumpiang prito (Filipino fried egg rolls). Of course, I turned to Marvin of Burnt Lumpia to get the basics. The Wikipedia lumpia entry was pretty useful for explaining all the different kinds of lumpia.

Every recipe that I could find online required the filling to be pre-cooked before being rolled and then fried. Too many steps for me. All the chopping and slicing was already pretty laborious. I decided to use the basic lumpiang prito filling, but rolled them up raw like Vietnamese egg rolls. The filling will cook when I fry the egg rolls in hot oil anyway. Plus, this way, the filling binds together better and won't fall out when I dip it. Since there weren't any noodles in the filling to help with binding, slice the green beans French cut-style. The grated carrot and potato helps with that too.




Lumpiang Prito (Filipino Fried Egg Rolls)
Adapted from Marvin of Burnt Lumpia

For about 3 dozen egg rolls, you'll need:
1 lb of ground meat (I used half beef and half pork, but prefer half pork and half turkey.)
1 small onion, grated or finely diced
1 large carrot (About 1 cup), grated
1 medium potato (About 1 cup), grated
1 cup bean sprouts
1 cup green beans, French-cut
1 egg
1 tsp salt
1 package egg roll wrappers

For the dipping sauce, you'll need:
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tblsp soy sauce
2 tblsp vinegar

Slice the green beans French cut-style, as thin as possible and at an angle. Grate 1 large carrot, 1 medium potato, and 1 small onion. Grate the potato last because it'll turn brown pretty quickly and you want to minimize that as much as possible. Add the green beans, carrot, potato, onion, and bean sprouts to 1 lb of ground meat.

Alternatively, you can stir-fry the vegetable ingredients first, squeeze out excess moisture, and then add them to the raw ground meat. I prefer keeping the meat raw to help bind the ingredients together. Add 1 tsp salt and 1 egg and mix thoroughly.




For folding and frying tips, please check my Vietnamese egg roll recipe.

Fry at medium-high heat until golden brown.

You can freeze any extra filling, or do what I did -- stir-fry it with some noodles.

I served these with a dipping sauce of minced garlic and equal parts vinegar and soy sauce.




Enjoy!

I'm submitting this recipe to Weekend Wokking, a world-wide food blogging event created by Wandering Chopsticks to celebrate the multiple ways we can cook one ingredient. This month's secret ingredient is SPROUTS. The host for May is Christine of Kits Chow. Check the sprouts round-up for 9 recipes.

If you'd like to participate or to see the secret ingredient, check who's hosting next month. If you've participated in the past and would like to host, please email me.

My other sprouts recipes:
Banh Xeo-ish Pajeon? Or Pajeon-ish Banh Xeo? (Vietnamese Savory Crepe-ish Korean Pancake? Or Korean Pancake-ish Vietnamese Savory Crepe?)
Bun Bo Hue (Vietnamese Hue-Style Beef Noodle Soup)
Canh Chua Ca (Vietnamese Sour Fish Soup)
Canh Chua Tom (Vietnamese Sour Shrimp Soup)
Ham, Tomato, and Sprout Sandwich
Kong Namul (Korean Seasoned Soy Bean Sprouts)
Mi Vit Tiem Chay (Vietnamese Vegetarian Duck Chinese Five-Spice "Duck" Egg Noodle Soup)
Pho Bo (Vietnamese Beef Noodle Soup)
Pho Ga (Vietnamese Chicken Noodle Soup)
Sukju Namul (Korean Seasoned Mung Bean Sprouts)

*****
1 year ago today, Inka Trails Restaurant - Claremont.
2 years ago today, my oldest uncle's wife's banh canh chay (Vietnamese vegetarian udon).