My dear friend Rosie who resides in California, is a wonderful Filipino lady who makes Lumpia at every birthday party she holds for her children and their guests - they are phenomenally delicious! This is my version of her recipe.

Her suggested traditional dipping sauce for this Filipino Pork Lumpia Recipe, is a sweet and sour sauce. However, since we are talking somewhat tropical here and as pork and pineapple go together, I think a homemade pineapple relish would be great, too!

Rosie usually cuts the spring rolls in half prior to frying – however, I fried them whole just to prevent the oil from seeping into the Lumpia too much. The choice is yours, but I have to say that frying in halves does give that crispy crunch to the initial bite of the pork.

My favorite sauce though, is a sweet and hot combination using a mixture of duck sauce and chili sauce, which is included in this recipe. You can serve any or all of these tasty little dipping sauces alongside this delicious finger food, which are indigenous to especially the Philippines and of course, the Filipino community in Hawaii. Enjoy!


Ingredients

1 lb. ground pork
1 large carrot
1/4 cup yellow onion
1 large stick celery
1/3 cup water chestnuts
1 tbsp. kosher salt
2 tsp. ground black pepper
3 cloves fresh garlic, crushed
Spring roll wrappers
Egg wash (1 egg beaten with a little water)
Canola or vegetable oil for frying
1/2 duck sauce mixed with 1 tbsp. chili sauce

Method

1. First, start by dicing the carrot, yellow onion, celery and water chestnuts very, very small. Add these, along with the salt, pepper and garlic to the ground pork in a large bowl. Mix together with your hands (use rubber gloves,) until well combined. Cover and set aside in the refrigerator for the ingredients to blend together for 30 minutes or more.

2. Next, place the spring roll wrappers on a plate and cover them with a damp paper towel. This will stop them from drying out in-between rolling. This is the only time consuming part of this recipe, so I suggest you get helping hands in the kitchen if you are making dozens of these tasty little spring rolls. The children actually find this a fun project.

Start with an edge of the wrapper facing you and place a couple of tablespoons of the pork mixture onto the first third of the wrapper - the side closest to you. Fold the wrapper over the filling, tucking it in as you go. Then, after the first roll, fold the sides inwards and continue rolling. Seal the edge with either a beaten egg or water. Keep the spring rolls covered with a damp towel until you are finished rolling.

3. In a deep pan, heat 2 inches of oil to 350 degrees F. by using a thermometer. First, test one spring roll. Cook for approximately 4 minutes turning to brown on all sides. Cut this test piece open to make sure the pork is cooked through. If the Lumpia are browning too quickly on the outside and the inside is uncooked, then lower the heat a little bit.

Do not over crowd the pan with too many spring rolls. It's best to take your time so they cook evenly - approximately 5 to 6 rolls at a time. Drain on paper towels and cover them with foil to keep warm or in a 200 degree F. oven on a sheet pan in the oven.

Easy Sweet and Hot Chili Sauce

Combine one half cup of duck sauce with 2 tsp. hot chili sauce. Adjust the intensity of the chili sauce to your liking.

TIP: Save the duck sauce and sweet and sour packets when you buy Chinese food. They usually give you tons of those – and they have a long shelf life, so you can experiment with your own sauces. :)