If you’ve read my lumpiang hubad recipe before, you’ll notice that the accompanying sauce has been recently tweaked. I attended a potluck party for a mom-to-be friend of mine last weekend and as you would expect when a dozen or so Filipino women congregate in one place,

there was a plethora of food from pork adobokare-kare and (my very own) pancit malabon to cassava cakeleche flan and fruit salad.  Although I sampled and enjoyed almost everything, it was the fresh lumpia that my girlfriend, Cathy, brought to the party that had me coming back for more (and more).

The vegetable filling was delicious but it was the sauce I couldn’t get enough of. I literally chased her around the room until she finally caved in and parted with her secret ingredient: peanut butter. Yup, two tablespoons of peanut butter added to the lumpia sauce.

The Filipino lumpia come in many forms and lumpiang ubod is one example. In this fresh variant, strips of palm heart are sauteed with shrimp and pork, rolled in crepe-like wrappers made with cornstarch and eggs, and doused with a sweet sauce infused with peanuts and garlic. Happy cooking! 

Lumpiang Ubod
 
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
 
Yield: 6 to 8 Servings
Ingredients
For the Lumpia Filling
  • 1 tablespoon oil
  • 1 small onion, peeled and chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
  • ¼ pound pork belly, diced
    • ½ pound shrimp, peeled and coarsely chopped
    • 1 tablespoon fish sauce
    • ½ cup water
    • 2 pounds (about 4 cups) ubod, cut into matchsticks
    • salt and pepper to taste
    • green leaf lettuce leaves, ends trimmed and leaves separated
    For the Lumpia Sauce
    • 2-3/4 cups water
    • ¼ cup soy sauce
    • ¾ cup brown sugar
    • ½ teaspoon salt
    • 1 cup unsalted peanuts, ground
    • 1 head garlic (about 3 tablespoons), peeled and minced
    • 3 tablespoons corn starch
    • 2 tablespoons peanut butter
      For the Lumpia Wrappers
      • 1 cup cornstarch
      • 1-1/2 cups water
      • 3 eggs, beaten
      • 1 teaspoon salt
      • 1 teaspoon sugar
      • 1 teaspoon oil
      • nonstick cooking spray

editted lumpia1

Instructions
 
  1. In a wide pan over medium heat, heat oil. Add onions and garlic and cook until softened. Add pork and cook until lightly browned. Add shrimp and cook, stirring occasionally, until color changes. Add fish sauce and cook for another 1 to 2 minutes. Add water and continue to cook until pork is tender. Add ubod. Lower heat, cover and cook for about 10 to 15 minutes or until ubod is tender and pork is cooked through. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Remove from pan and drain well.
  2. Lay a wrapper on a flat surface and place a lettuce leaf on top. Spoon about ¼ cup filling across the middle of wrapper and fold sides to cover filling.
  3. Pour sauce on top of prepared lumpia and garnish with additional minced garlic and ground peanuts, if desired.
    For the Lumpia Sauce
    1. In a sauce pot over medium heat, combine 2-1/2 cups of the water, soy sauce, brown sugar and salt. Bring to a boil, stirring regularly, until sugar is dissolved. Add garlic and peanuts. Continue to cook for about 2 to 3 minutes.
    2. In a bowl, combine corn starch and the remaining ¼ cup water. Stir until mixture is smooth.
    3. Whisking vigorously, add corn starch mixture into soy sauce mixture. Continue to cook, whisking regularly, until thickened. Add peanut butter and stir until dissolved and well combined.
    For the Lumpia Wrappers
    1. In a large bowl, combine cornstarch and water. Whisk together until smooth. Add eggs and salt. Stir to combine until mixture is the consistency of thin, runny batter.
    2. Set a 9-inch nonstick pan over low heat. Lightly spray surface of pan with nonstick cooking spray. Add ¼ cup batter and gently tilt pan on all sides to cover with batter. Cook for about 30 to 40 seconds. When edges of batter begin to pull from sides and small bubbles begin to form in the middle of crepe, gently flip to other side using a spatula. Cook for another 10 seconds or until top is firm and dry. Remove crepe from pan by gently sliding onto plate. Repeat with remaining batter, spraying pan with nonstick cooking spray in between cooking.