Fried lumpia or fresh lumpia?
Both. Let’s just get that over with.
I’d like to highlight some of the fresh and fried batons of goodness I had this past month. This by no means encompasses all lumpia in the country since lumpia comes in more variations and have had a much longer history than all of the hot pockets or corn dogs in America combined lol. But this can be a start for my blog.
Fresh Lumpia
I love fresh lumpia, with all the garlic and glaze, packed with veggies or just bamboo shoots or singkamas (Mexican turnip) ; the minor variations from one shop to the next tickle my fancy freshness.
Aboy’s is a food stall in Manila that only sells fresh lumpia. It’s your run-of-da-rice-mill fresh lumpia favored by the healthy-eating Filipino public. I’d call it generic, but such a term does it no justice. Maybe more like flavorly-commercially-safe. You can’t go wrong with Aboy’s regardless of which stall you go to (they’re amazingly consistent). But it isn’t your Binondo fresh lumpia, or your Lei’s in QC, which are known for their tangy sauces, cheap prices, history, and veggie-packed lumpia.
Outside Manila, Infanta, Quezon has Queen Cakes restaurant. They specialize in yema, ube, and other Filipino flavors in sugar (but not-too-sweet) form. Of all things, I got to try their fresh lumpia, since on top of cakes they have made-to-order ulams or entrees. The sauce was great, and the contents were well-balanced in its carrot-to-singkamas ratio. Though it was quite small it’s still worth it.
Fried Lumpia
Fried lumpia, fresh lumpia’s hot cousin, is a more prominent sight on Philippine streets.
From lumpiang togue packed with togue (bean sprouts), chopped tofu, and other chopped veggies to small lumpiang shanghai packed with finely-ground meat of unknown species mixed with futile bits of green onion. Lumpiang shanghai typically comes in small almost bite-sized pieces, especially kalenderias. But occasionally you’ll run into a made-to-order restaurant that serves them bigger.
Again in Infanta, is another small restaurant that serves made-to-order ulams: Iona’s Refreshment Parlor. Their lumpiang shanghai isn’t your regular tiny battery-sized meat-packed tubes of tanginess. They’re as big as super-sized rolls of Mentos, or those small rechargeable flashlights. So we got like 10 of them.
Finally, to top off this blog post of fresh and fried goodness, is my favorite (for August 2019). Tiyo in the Timog district of QC serves large, hot-out-the-frier lumpiang tinapa sotanghon. Whaaaaaa.
Yep that’s sotanghon pancit mixed with soft flavorful shards of tinapa or smoked fish. They serve that with Pinakurat, the spicy Illoko vinegar that could’ve been used to blind Japanese invaders and American colonizers alike during World War II.
It was so good we made our own at home, and it was almost up to par with the original. Ours was a bit better because we made them bigger lol.
Had lots of amazing lumpia this past month for some reason. Maybe for September it’ll be ice cream? Whatever comes my way food-wise, bring it on. What are your favorite kinds of lumpia? And just as importantly, where can I have some? lol
Sometimes I dream of fresh lumpia, so I made some FRESH lumpia art. Stay fresh folks!