Lumpiang Shanghai (Shanghai Meat Eggrolls)

This is a recipe that I adapted from the wonderful international award-winning cookbook, "Memories of Philippine Kitchens," (reviewed in this blog site) by the Filipino chefs/restaurateurs Amy Besa and Romy Dorotan (their popular restaurant, "Purple Yam" is in Brooklyn, New York). I omitted one ingredient, the ear mushrooms, because I could not find them in the Asian supermarkets in my area. I loved the way the lumpia is rolled -- the wrapper is reinforced by a smaller piece inside the big piece, which prevented any pieces from getting soggy and bursting open with holes when frying them. They were delicious with the Thai eggroll sweet chile sauce.

Filling:

4 cups coarsely grated jicama (about 2 small)

1 cup coarsely grated onion (about 2 medium)

2 medium carrots, coarsely grated

2 pounds ground pork

2 egg yolks

Half of a 250-gram package sotanghon, soaked in hot water for 30 minutes

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

2 teaspoons salt

1 tablespoon sugar

About 65 eight-inch egg roll wrappers (plus extra for breakage)

Water or egg whites, to seal wrappers

Canola oil for frying

Eggroll dipping sauce

Directions:

For the filling, squeeze the jicama, onions, and carrots with your hands to remove excess water, then pat dry with paper towels to remove as much moisture as possible. Combine all the filling ingredients in a large bowl and toss well.

Cut 14 of the wrapper in quarters so they form 4 equal rectangles. Wrap them in a damp kitchen towel so they don’t dry out. Place the whole wrappers in a separate damp kitchen towel.

Place one wrapper in front of you with a corner pointed toward you, like a diamond. Place one of the smaller squares in the middle of the wrapper and spoon 1 heaping tablespoon of filling onto the center of the small square. Lifting the corner pointing toward you, fold the wrapper over the filling, tucking the end underneath the edge of the smaller square. Fold the right and left sides over the filling. Use a pastry brush to dab the edges of the rolls with beaten egg white to seal, then finish rolling.

Transfer the completed rolls to the baking sheet and keep covered with a damp kitchen towel to prevent them from drying out. If you’re not frying the lumpia right away, freeze them and fry them straight from the freezer.

Fill a wide, heavy saucepan with 4 inches of oil. Place over medium-high heat and heat until the oil registers 350F on a cooking thermometer, then fry about 4 rolls at a time (don’t crowd the pan), turning with a slotted spoon, until golden brown, 3 to 5 minutes. Transfer to a strainer to drain. Serve with Asian sweet chile eggroll sauce.