This fresh Lumpia is one of my favorite vegetable roll, the other one being Lumpia Ubod (Heart of Palm). This lumpia is mostly vegetable with a little bit of pork and/or shrimps. You can put almost any vegetable you prefer in it, you're the cook, why not? I'm sure there are many variations of this dish just like any other Philippine dish. Mine came from my mom, of course. For the wrapper, I use a regular crepe batter and make it with my crepe maker. If you don't have a crepe maker, you can use a non-stick pan to make it. In the Philippines, some people use the regular Lumpia wrapper sold in the wet market.

FRESH LUMPIA

1/2 cup pork, cut into small cubes
1/2 cup shrimps, chopped
1 tbsp cooking oil
salt and pepper to taste (or fish sauce instead of salt)
1/4 cup chicken broth
*all these vegetables are cut into thin and short strips
2 cloves garlic
1 small onion
1 cup string beans or snow pea
1 cup potatoes
1 cup carrots
1 cup singkamas (jicama)
1 cup cabbage

Heat oil and pre-cook the sliced potatoes, set aside. Saute garlic and onions until limp. Add pork and saute until cooked. Add shrimps and season with salt and pepper or fish sauce. Add 1/4 cup chicken broth and the rest of the vegetables except the cooked potatoes. Saute until the vegetables are done but not over-cooked. Drain and let cool down.

Wrapper:
3 large eggs
1 cup cornstarch
2 tbsp. cooking oil
1 1/2 cup water
1 tsp sugar

Whisk the eggs, sugar and water. Add the cornstarch and whisk until well blended. Heat the non-stick pan and brush with a small amount of oil. Depending on the size of the crepe you want to make, pour the right amount on the heated pan. Tip the pan to spread the batter thinly. When the edges begin to separate from the pan, the crepe is done. Repeat until all the batter is used.

Sauce:
3 cups water
3 tbsp soy sauce
1 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp salt
3 tbsp cornstarch diluted in 1 tbsp water
ground peanuts, chopped (optional)
3 cloves garlic, minced (optional)

Mix all ingredients except the diluted cornstarch. Cook until it boils, lower heat. Add the cornstarch mixture and mix. Cook until thickened. Add peanuts and garlic in the sauce or if you prefer, sprinkle these on top of the wrapped lumpia and sauce when ready to serve.

To serve:
Use one crepe and place a piece of lettuce on one side. Add the right amount of filling on top of the lettuce. Fold the bottom part over and then fold the sides of the crepe. Secure with a toothpick.

Lumpia Shanghai is one of the most popular Filipino dish here in the U.S. If you ask an American who has a Filipino friend, co-worker or family member, what their favorite Filipino food is, most likely they'll tell you it's Lumpia. My husband's family like it so much that they always ask me to cook some everytime we get together for special occasions.

This is an easy recipe, it's similar to making meatballs. The only difference is that making it is very tedious since you need to roll each and every one. If you don't eat pork, you can substitute ground turkey, chicken or beef. Some recipe calls for water chestnuts but I find that unless you intend to cook these right away, it is best to omit this ingredient. The water chestnut adds moisture to the lumpia which will make the wrapper soggy if you plan to freeze it. I use the food processor to mince the onions and carrots just to save time.

The spring roll wrappers can be found in any good Asian grocery. I use these wrappers instead of the 'egg roll' wrappers because it is thinner. Each bag has 25 wrappers. I cut the lumpia in half before frying so I get 50 small lumpias in all. I added the step-by-step photos on how to roll the lumpia if you do not know how to go about it. I either use beaten egg or a mixture of flour and water boiled into a paste to seal the lumpia. I hope it helps. :o)

Here is the recipe:

LUMPIA SHANGHAI

1 LB. ground pork
1 medium carrot, minced
1 small onion, minced
3 cloves garlic, minced (optional)
3 stalks green onion, chopped
1 egg, beaten
salt and pepper to taste

Mix all ingredients in a bowl. I fry a small pattie of the mixture just to test if it needs more salt or pepper. Peel off one spring roll wrapper and cover the rest with a towel to prevent it from drying out. Put one tablespoon or less of the mixture in the middle of the wrapper as shown in the photo. Shape it with your spoon so that it resembles a thin cigar. Brush some beaten eggs on both corners and fold across. Always brush the corner to be folded with the beaten eggs and fold as shown in the photo. Try to fold it as tight as possible. Don't forget to seal the edges (photo #4) with beaten eggs. Fry in medium high heat until golden brown.

You can freeze the lumpia up to 2 months. You don't need to thaw it before cooking. I just cut the lumpia in half and fry it.

Serve with sweet and sour sauce or duck sauce.



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This is one of those foods that is an acquired taste. As you can tell from its' name, this egg is very salty. I don't even dare to find out how much sodium per serving it contains. That is why I get to enjoy this rarely. Duck eggs are ideal to use when you want to make salted eggs. For me it has a different taste and has more flavor. Uncooked duck eggs are usually available in some Asian supermarkets. You can purchase these already cooked and sold in packs of six. There are also uncooked salted eggs available, boil them as you would boil a regular egg. The ones I've seen is imported from China or Taiwan. The taste is the same as the ones in the Philippines. My relatives always brings me back a tray of salted eggs from Pateros, the city where these salted eggs became well-known for.

Mangoes! This is what I've been having for breakfast. You should have seen my eyes light up when I walked in at KamMan Asian grocery and saw boxes of mangoes right by the entrance. This is the closest that I can get to mangoes that tastes like the ones back in the Philippines. It's close but it's not the real thing of course, nothing beats the taste of Philippine mangoes. These mangoes are grown in Mexico and they call it 'Champagne' mangoes. One box has 20 pieces and I paid $14.00 They probably got the seeds from our mangoes since it's very similar. I will post a mango dessert later. I tried it when we spent New Year's Eve at Dakak Beach Resort in the Philippines years ago.

Do you have a favorite dessert featuring mangoes?

As with most Filipino food, Caldereta originated in Spain. They have the same dish and almost all the ingredients are similar with the exception of Cinnamon stick, which is called for in the Spanish recipe. This dish can be made with beef, goat meat or even chicken. I prefer using beef for my version of Caldereta. Some recipes call for the use of vinegar as a marinade, along with salt, garlic and pepper. This is advisable if you are using a tough part of the beef as vinegar acts as a meat tenderizer.

Browning the beef as the first step of the cooking is very important. Do not use a non-stick pot or pan for this since you want the brown bits that stick to the bottom of the pan. These will add a lot of flavor to your Caldereta (or any kind of beef stew). Instead of tomato sauce, I prefer to use tomato paste (about 2-3 tbsp depending on how much water you add and how much sauce you want at the end) since I find that the resulting sauce has more depth and flavor. It is also important to let it simmer for a long time since this will allow all the flavors to meld and make the sauce thicker (you don't want a sauce that is watery).

The nice thing about Caldereta is you can omit some or most of the ingredients. As long as you have beef and tomato sauce, you'll still end up with a good dish. It's okay if you don't have liver sauce or olives or green peas. I for one do not add green peas, just because dh does not like it. If you like a Caldereta with a kick, add some chili pepper flakes or chili peppers.

This recipe is a combination of recipes from my mom, aunts and cook books. You can tweak this recipe to accomodate your taste

BEEF CALDERETA

2 lbs beef cubes
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 tbsp garlic, crushed
1/2 tsp ground pepper
1/4 cup cooking oil
1 medium sized onion, chopped
1 can tomato sauce
1 3/4 cups water
2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
additional 2 1/2 cups water
3 medium-sized potatoes, quartered
1 large carrot, chopped
1 red Bell pepper, chopped
1 tsp salt
1/4 cup canned liver spread
1/2 cup green peas
1/2 cup whole olives (optional)
Chili pepper flakes (optional)

- Marinate the beef in soy sauce, garlic and pepper for at least 1 hour. Drain and reserve the marinade.
- Heat the oil in a large pot.
- Fry the beef cubes until brown in all sides. Set aside.
- Add the onion and saute until limp.
- Pour in the tomato sauce, water, Worcestershire sauce and reserved marinade.
- Bring to boil and then lower the heat to simmer until the beef cubes are tender (approximately 1 1/2 hours). Add more water if needed. You should end up with an oily and thick sauce just like what is shown in the photo at the right. Skim the fat off the sauce.
- Add potatoes and carrot, cook for 10 minutes.
- Add Bell pepper and cook for another 5 minutes.
- Add the rest of the ingredients. Add salt if needed.
-Serve over rice.

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1. Place the water in a pot and bring to boil over high heat. Add the noodles, stir and cook for 2-4 mins. for fresh noodles and 4-7mins. for dried noodles . depending on the size. Turn off heat and run cold water into the pot and drain.

2. Combine the sauce ingredients and set aside.

3. Heat the oil and add the garlic and stir. When the garlic is golden brown, add the onions and cook for a minute. Add the pork and shrimp. Saute for a minute or until the shrimp turns pink. Add the carrots, celery and Bokchoy stems. When these have softened slightly, add the Spinach and Bokchoy leaves. Make a well in the middle,stir the sauce mixture and pour into the pan. Stir well and cook until the sauce thickens.

4. Add the cooked noodles into the pan and mix until the noodles are coated with the sauce and vegetables are evenly distributed.

5. Serve in a platter with sliced lemons and soy sauce on the side.

Escabeche I think is the Filipino version of the Chinese Sweet and Sour dish although the latter has a sweeter and thicker sauce (not to mention redder). Escabeche solely refers to a dish made with fish and the accompanying sauce which has a delicate balance of sweet and sour. To get the perfect Escabeche sauce, it has to be just a little sweet with a hint of sourness to perfectly complement the delicate taste of the fish. Anything more than that will ruin the whole dish.

I've tried a lot of recipes and found some to be overly sweet or too sour. The kind of vinegar that is used is very important. If you are using a recipe from a Philippine cookbook, I suggest using cane vinegar like Datu Puti. This kind of vinegar is not as acidic as the regular distilled vinegar.

Using whole fish adds a special touch, the dish looks nice when you serve it. Some Americans are queasy when they see whole fish served on the table, what more if they see a whole lechon? I can just imagine my MIL when she sees a lechon complete with the head. She will probably swear off on eating any kind of pork for life. LOL I'm thankful that dh is not like that. Here in our local grocery, they only sell fillets of fish. So every time we go to the Asian grocery near Boston, I always get a whole fish. This time I got a whole Lane Snapper, just the perfect size for the family.


I used an oval-shaped pan to fry the fish. This was the reason I purchased this pan in the first place (NO, I am not a fan of Rachel Ray LOL). I've used the regular round pan and fishes this size don't fit (unless you have a huge kawali from the Philippines :)).


ESCABECHE (Pickled Fried Fish)

1 medium sized fish, cleaned
2 tsp salt
1/2 lemon
1/3 cup oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 small onion, sliced
1/2 green pepper, cut into strips
1 tbsp ginger strips
1 carrot, cut into strips
1/4 cup vinegar
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp catsup
1 tsp cornstarch, dissolved in 2 tbsp water

*Rub fish all over with lemon. Sprinkle with salt and let stand for half an hour.
*Fry in oil until brown. Set aside.
*Saute garlic, ginger and onions until onions are translucent. Add carrots and saute for 3 mins. Add the green pepper and saute for another 2 mins.
*Add sugar, salt, soy sauce and catsup to the water and mix until dissolved. Pour into the pan with the vegetables. Add vinegar and bring to boil.
*Stir in cornstarch solution and cook until thick and transparent.
*Pour sauce over the fish and serve with white rice.

Source: Filipino Cooking by E.Laquian and I.Sobrevinas


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When we were still living in California, we were spoiled with having a Goldilocks store in the next town. Whenever dh had some craving for polvoron, we'd drive to Union City and stock up on different pastries. Whenever I or any of my relatives go back to Manila for a vacation, we would bring packs of polvoron as 'pasalubong' for dh and the kids.

Now that we live in the East Coast, getting Goldilocks polvoron is not that easy. There are some stores in New Jersey and New York that sell these but of course it costs more and I live four hours away.:( Goldilocks also has an online store but then the shipping costs more than the product you are ordering since they only ship 2nd-day Air. So we just ask my cousin who lives near a Goldilocks store in Southern California to buy the polvoron and ship it to us. It is not cheap either. One bag (12 pcs.) costs $15, they sure have a big profit margin on this one. This set-up worked out fine until the last shipment.

It tasted different this time. Dh noticed it too. Gone are the rich and buttery taste. Now it is bland and dry. Because of this, I decided to make my own polvoron. And why not? I remember making this during Home Economics in sixth grade. :) I also have the polvoron molds sitting in a drawer, I asked my mom to get these for 3 years ago. I have not used it since I received it, I guess I'd better start now.

These polvoron tastes just like Goldilocks'. Making it is very easy and definitely costs less $. I used a stand mixer to incorporate the rest of the ingredients into the flour, it is much easier that way. The kids enjoyed helping me make the polvoron. It is very easy for them with the help of the mold. If you would like to wrap these, you can use 'tissue paper' (like the ones you use for gift bags).

Polvoron

1 cup sifted All-purpose flour
1/2 cup full-cream powdered milk (KLIM or Nido)
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup soft butter
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

-Toast the flour in a pan over medium heat.

Usually a staple in birthday parties in the Philippines, this became one of my favorite eats along with the Purefoods hotdog on a stick with marshmallows and the slice of birthday cake. Filipino spaghetti is distinctively different from the Italian kind because it has hotdogs/frankfurters and it is sweet which usually comes from the added tomato catsup or banana catsup. My kids never took to liking it, probably because they are used to the Italian-style spaghetti sauce that I cook. Hubby prefers the Italian version, I can't blame him though since he is part Italian. :)

Once in a while, when I make Italian spaghetti sauce for my family, I will save some and add hotdogs and UFC catsup for my own Pinoy spaghetti. For true Pinoy spaghetti taste, use grated Kraft cheddar cheese for the topping.

Note: Condensed milk is not used in making the spaghetti sauce.


Filipino Spaghetti Sauce

1 cup chopped yellow onions
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 lb ground beef
2 small cans tomato sauce
1 cup banana catsup (Jufran, UFC or Mafran brand)
1/8 Tsp pepper
2 tbsp sugar
1 tsp parsley
1 pack hotdog or frankfurters, sliced thinly
1/2 cup water
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp oregano
1 cup grated Kraft cheddar cheese or any mild cheddar cheese

Saute the garlic, onions in oil until wilted, add the ground beef and cook for 10 minutes, drain excess oil. Add tomato sauce and water. Add the oregano and parsley, season with salt and pepper. Stir and simmer for about an hour. Stir the sauce often so it will not stick to the pan. Add the banana catsup and hot dog at the last 10 minutes of cooking. Mix sauce with cooked spaghetti. Sprinkle grated Kraft cheddar cheese before serving.

Shortcut version:
Saute garlic, onions and ground beef, drain excess oil. Add any bottled spaghetti sauce, add about a cup of banana catsup and sugar to taste. Add hotdogs or frankfurters. Cook for 30 minutes while stirring often. Mix the sauce with the cooked spaghetti noodles and top with grated mild cheddar cheese.

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Pancit Molo is an adaptation of the Chinese Won-Ton soup. This Philippine dish has it's origin from a city in Iloilo called Molo. Do you know that in Iloilo, the first letter of your surname is the same as the city/town you're from? Interesting factoid. :) My maternal grandfather's real surname (he was adopted later and used his adopted family's surname) started with the letter D and he was from a town called 'Dingle' (deeng-leh).

Anyway, back to Pancit Molo and soups. My family and I love eating different variations of soup during winter, my favorite soup to make is some kind of noodle soup. Everytime I have pork filling left-overs from making Lumpia Shanghai, I make it into siomai or wonton and use this to make Pancit Molo.

To make the siomai, I use ground pork, minced carrots, flat-leaf parsley, onions with salt and pepper plus one egg to act as a binder. I wrap it using small squares of pastry made exclusively for wontons. Use at the most, one teaspoon of filling per wrapper. Close the edges using beaten egg to make a complete seal. I put a bit of flour on the bottom of the plate where you'll set the siomai so it does not stick to the bottom and to each other.

For the soup, I saute the garlic and onions. I add several pieces of chicken parts with bones and let it sweat. Afterwards, I add several cups of water and bring it to boil. I skim the impurities out and let it simmer until the chicken is tender. I take out the chicken and cut the meat into strips. Meanwhile, I add the carrot strips and other vegetables I have in the fridge like spinach and celery. Add the siomai to the broth, let simmer for 20 minutes. It is important to just let it simmer because if you have the broth boiling, the siomai might open up if it has not been sealed well.

Season to taste with pepper and either salt or fish sauce. Add the cooked chicken and minced green onions before serving. If you prefer, you can add noodles to Pancit Molo (just like I did). Add the noodles to the broth at the last 5minutes of cooking (depending on how long the noodles will cook).

As you may have noticed by now, almost all the dishes I cook make use of only one (or two at the most) pot or pan. Is it obvious that I hate to wash dishes? LOL Thank goodness for the dishwasher, one of the best (second only to the washing machine) inventions for the household. Anyway, if you're into washing pots and pans, you can make the chicken broth ahead of time (but why bother when you can do it in the same pot - that's always my opinion).

Pancit Molo Recipe

Filling:
1/2 lb. ground pork
1 carrot, chopped
1 tbsp minced parsley
1 egg
salt and pepper to taste

Broth:
1 tbsp. oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 onion, chopped
1/2 lb chicken bones
salt and pepper to taste
green onions, chopped (for garnish)


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Usually the most delicious food comes from a very simple recipe, Halabos na Hipon is one of them. This is my number one favorite shrimp recipe. It is comparable to shrimp Scampi of the Italians or Gambas al Ajillo of Catalonia.

The only time I make Halabos na hipon is when I have whole shrimps from the Asian grocery. All the flavors to make this a great dish comes from the head. The shrimp products we have in the local grocery or the club store are the headless shrimps, I wonder what they do with the discarded shrimp heads?


The way my mom taught me to cook this dish is very simple. Place the shrimps in a saute pan with just a little water. Add salt and pepper. Once it starts to boil, saute it for about 2 minutes for medium-sized shrimps and around 3-5 minutes for larger shrimps. At the last minute of cooking, add a teaspoon of canola or olive oil to finish the dish.

I prefer my Halabos na hipon to have a lot of sauce so I use more water. :) This goes well with freshly cooked rice or French bread. Yummy!

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