Lumpiang Sariwa for Kulinarya Cooking Club

The Kulinarya theme chosen by Malou and Cherrie for this month is Lumpia, the Filipino version of springrolls. Since I have already featured Lumpiang Shanghai before, I thought of making something different: Lumpiang Sariwa.

The word sariwa means fresh in Tagalog which implies the freshness of the ingredients. This lumpia also got their name because they are not fried. Instead of using thin rice paper wrappers for rolling, delicate egg-y, crepes are used.


I am featuring my basic recipe for Lumpiang Sariwa here. Besides the initial saute of onions and garlic, this recipe consists of only four vegetables: sweet potato, carrots, green beans and mushrooms. I did this to show how easy this recipe can be. Once you get the hang of it, you could add other vegetables to your liking like cabbage, bean sprouts, singkamas (jicama), sayote (chayote squash), or even garbanzo beans. As the name imply, fresh also means using produce that are available in the season. My visit to farmers market lately showed crisp-tender green "Bagiuo" beans and unblemished shiitake mushrooms. Feel free to use any or all of the vegetables I mentioned here.

I also purposely left out any meat in this dish because I wanted to show there are dishes in Filipino cuisine that are cooked without them. You may add ground pork, shrimp, shredded chicken and/or tofu if you like for a more substantial Lumpiang Sariwa. However, this recipe cannot be called vegetarian since I use chicken broth to boil the vegetables which would then be used to make the sweet sauce. If you truly want a vegetarian lumpia, just use water or vegetable stock. I have yet to try so please let me know if you do.

Now, isn't Lumpiang Sariwa not only wholesome but a versatile dish, as well?


One last thing: For times when you are feeling lazy or just don't want to be bothered by making lumpia wrappers, no need to worry, you can still enjoy these. Just spoon them onto fresh lettuce and eat them just like that! (Just like those lettuce cups that are so popular right now.) But make sure to call them Lumpiang Hubad. The word hubad means "naked" - a play on words but pretty straightforward, I think. :)



Lumpiang Sariwa
makes about 10

For the wrappers:
2 eggs
1 cup water
2 TBSP vegetable oil
pinch salt
3/4 - 1 cup flour

For the filling:
1 TBSP vegetable oil
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
1 medium sweet potato, julienned
6 shiitake mushrooms, sliced
2 medium carrots, julienned
1/2 pound green beans, diagonally sliced
1 TBSP soy sauce
2 cups chicken broth

For the sauce:
reserved broth from above
1/3 cup dark brown sugar
2 TBSP dark soy sauce
2 tsp cornstarch

For the assembly:
lettuce leaves
garlic, finely minced
peanuts, crushed


Make the wrappers:
In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, water, salt and oil. Strain flour through the sieve and over the egg mixture. Mix until no lumps appear.

Heat a crepe pan or non-stick skillet over low flame. Ladle 1/4 cup of batter and swirl, covering the bottom of pan. Cook for about 2 minutes then turn over and cook another minute. Remove and let cool.

Continue until all batter is used. You may stack together. Keep them covered to prevent drying out.


Make the filling:
Heat oil in wok (or large saute pan) over high heat. Cook onions until limp, about a minute. Add garlic and cook until fragrant. Do not brown.

Add sweet potato and mushrooms and cook for about 2 minutes.

Stir in the carrots and green beans, cook for a minute. Add soy sauce and freshly-cracked pepper if you like. Add in the broth and bring to a boil, covered.

Once it boils, lower heat and cook until potato is tender, about 3-5 minutes. Do not overcook. Drain through strainer immediately to stop vegetables from cooking further, reserving the broth. You want to keep the crispness of the vegetables. Set vegetables aside to cool.


Make the sauce:
Return reserved broth to the pot. Stir in the sugar and soy sauce and bring to a boil.

Mix the cornstarch with 1/4 cup water to make a slurry. Stir into boiling broth until broth thicken. Turn off heat. Transfer to serving bowl.


Assembly:
Place a lettuce leaf in middle of lumpia wrapper.

Spoon about 1/3 to 1/2 cup vegetable filling. Close wrapper over the vegetables.

Ladle sauce on top and sprinkle with fresh garlic and crushed peanuts. Serve.


Kulinarya was started by a group of Filipino foodies living in Sydney, who are passionate about the Filipino culture and its colorful cuisine. Each month we will showcase a new dish along with their family recipes. By sharing these recipes, we hope you find the same passion and love for Filipino Food as we do.



Please visit my fellow Kulinarya members for their Lumpia creations:

Kath - http://www.acupcakeortwo.com/
Trisha - http://sugarlace.com/
Trissa - http://trissalicious.com/
Olive - http://www.latestrecipes.net/
Ninette - http://bigboldbeautifulfood.blogspot.com/
Peach- http://www.thepeachkitchen.com/
Althea- http://www.busogsarap.com/
Asha - http://forkspoonnknife.blogspot.com/
Malou - http://www.impromptudiva.com/
Cherrie - http://sweetcherriepie.blogspot.com/
Acdee - http://acdee.blogspot.com/
Valerie - http://www.acanadianfoodie.com/
Sheryl - http://crispywaffle.com/
Divina - http://www.sense-serendipity.com/
Anna - http://www.anniesfoodjournal.blogspot.com/
Dahlia - http://www.energychef.blogspot.com/
Joy - http://joyjoycreativeoutlet.blogspot.com/
Maribel - http://www.foodgeek.webs.com/
Tressa
Jen - http://www.jen-at-work.blogspot.com/
Pia - http://bisayajudkaayo.blogspot.com/
Malaka - http://thegrandinternational.com/.
Mimi - http://lapinchecocinera.blogspot.com/
Erika - http://ivoryhut.com/
Kat - http://www.caterersearch.com/tabletalk/default.aspx

If you'd like to learn more about our Filipino cuisine, please read Tracey's (of Tangled Noodle) latest post on Filipino Food: Of Thin Skins and Filipino Food. She had eloquently written about the multiple facets of our cuisine and dismissed the negative notions of what the uninformed public perceive Filipino food to be - a very frustrating subject among fellow Filipino food bloggers like myself (or for any Filipinos). I applaud her for articulating so well what I have thought about many times but can never quite convey. Tracey also has a recipe for Lumpiang Sariwa so you can see for yourself how really versatile this recipe is.