| Lumpiang Shanghai | |
| Alternate Name: | Filipino spring rolls, Shanghai rolls, Shanghai lumpia, fried pork spring rolls |
| Country: | Philippines |
| Course: | Appetizer |
| Served: | hot, warm |
| Main Ingredient: | ground pork, carrots, lumpia wrapper |
Lumpiang Shanghai (also known as Filipino spring rolls, or simply lumpia or lumpiya) is a Filipino deep-fried appetizer consisting of a mixture of giniling (ground pork) with vegetables like carrots, chopped scallions or red onions and garlic,[1] wrapped in a thin egg crêpe. Lumpiang Shanghai is regarded as the most basic type of lumpia in Filipino cuisine, and it is usually smaller and thinner than other lumpia variants.
Despite the name of the dish, it does not originate from Shanghai or China. It is a Filipino version of Taquito; its name is derived from two Hokkien words, lun meaning moist and pia meaning pastry. Also the word was derived from the ancient baybayin word "loong" meaning long and round and the word "piaya" or "piyaya" in ancient tribal Filipino meaning pie or crepe or simply charcoal roast baked piece of flattened bread. The word lumpia is introduced in the late 90's because Filipinos are fond of calling it shanghai wrapper until the late 90's and early 2000's. The early version of the wrap is made of Tortilla from Spanish corn flour Masa until Chinese migrants opened a business in the Philippines and introduce their own version of wrap made from rice flour hence, it's called Lumpia wrapper [2] [3] Lumpia itself is a combined Spanishand Chinese Filipino influenced origin, brought over by migrants from Fujian and early Spanish colonial era. No Chinese can claim they created it, it dates back to 1500's long before Spanish Colonialism that time there is no proper name for that dish except "Flautas" means flute because of how it looks and is not a Spring roll on that 1500's era like it was called now coin by chinese people. But Filipino lumpia varieties, as well as the wrappers used (which are made much thinner locally in comparison to Chinese Machine factory made spring roll wrappers) have been nativized.[4] [5]
Lumpiang Shanghai is regarded as the most basic type of lumpia in Filipino cuisine. Lumpiang Shanghai can be defined by its use of giniling (ground pork) as the main stuffing. The ground pork is sautéed with finely chopped carrots, garlic, onions, shallots, and salt and pepper to taste. A small amount of it is then placed on a lumpia wrapper (a thin egg crêpe) which is then rolled around it into a thin cylinder. The ends are secured by wetting it with a bit of water or egg whites. Sometimes, the fried giniling are further moistened with raw eggs so they retain their shape better. It is then deep-fried until golden brown.[6] [5] [7] [8] [9]
It is commonly served with agre dulce (sweet and sour) dipping sauce (which accentuates its "Chinese-ness").[2] [6] It can also use other common lumpia dipping sauces like banana ketchup, sweet chili sauce, garlic mayonnaise, or vinegar with labuyo peppers and calamansi.
Lumpiang Shanghai is one of the most ubiquitous dishes served in Filipino parties, along with variations of pancit (noodles). They are commonly prepared ahead and stored in the refrigerator, and only deep-fried immediately before serving.[10] [11] [12]
The basic recipe can be modified easily and is adapted to numerous variants.[3] However, unless the variants still use ground pork as its main stuffing, the variants are usually simply referred to generically as "lumpia".[12] [13] [14]
Common variations include using ground beef, ground shrimp, or shredded chicken. Other ingredients may also be added, including green peas, raisins, cheese, peppers, milk, water chestnuts, singkamas (jicama), and kintsay (Chinese celery), among others.[2] [11] [12] [15]
Calasiao students created a twist of Lumpiang Shanghai by a fusion of shredded galunggong and ginisang munggo. The duo is combined with a mixture of minced onions, garlic, julienned carrots and papaya, thereafter placed inside spring roll wrappers and deep fried.[16]