Lumpiang Shanghai

I was talking to my sister in Vegas and we both love cooking for our family. She's a nurse and am continuing my course to be a nurse as well.. hehehe.. anyway, one time we were talking about how we prepare meals for the whole week since both our husbands know very minimal when it comes to cooking.. basically, our husbands know how to use a microwave-safe dish and reheat meals! So I told her a secret i do when preparing lumpiang shanghai which is very easy to prepare and hubby just needs to heat some oil and fry them for a nice meal when am not yet home.. I pre-cook the meat and wrap them!!! hehehe!! She never thought doing it that way she said and said it was a good idea. cooking it also allows you to tuck the sides of the wrapper inside instead of letting the ends of the shanghai open so when you cook it the meat won't come out of the open sides. HA! smart right? hehehe!!

Lumpiang shanghai is usually prepared and wrapped raw and is fried just before serving or eating them so it stays crunchy and hot but since what am after is ease of preparation for my husband since i come home late from school and he usually is home already during dinnertime so he's the one who prepares the meals for the 2 kids. If i would fry these before i leave for school and they reheat it inside the microwave it would turn gummy and hard, not the usual crunchy which is why shanghai should be cooked before eating them. And not even our dog would enjoy eating it.. I know and am sure about it, I've tried giving her some before and she turned her back to it when my daughter said it doesn't taste good!! hahaha!! smart dog!

What you need is your basic recipe for lumpiang shanghai and there are actually several variations including my own recipe:

1/2 K ground pork
1/2 K potatoes peeled and diced
1/4 K white onions peeled and diced
1/4 K garlic peeled and diced
1/4 K carrots peeled and diced
salt & pepper
oyster sauce
kinchay
lumpia wrapper ( was able to use 50 medium wrappers for this recipe)

Saute the garlic and onions til the garlic turns slightly brown and the onions soft and translucent. Add the ground pork and let it cook til the juices turns clear and then add the potatoes and carrots. When the meat and veggies are nearly cooked add some salt and pepper to taste and the oyster sauce. let it cook for a few more minutes then turn off the heat. drain the cooked meat in a colander and make sure to save the drippings for an easy dipping afterwards. While the meat is cooling down ( you can't wrap them in lumpia wrappers while hot since the wrappers would break, it should be room temperature!) chop the kinchay and add to the meat before you start wrapping them. These would prevent the kinchay from being cooked from the heat of the meat since it would give a fresher taste if added fresh. Prepare your wrappers and make sure to place them in between moistened towels so it won't get hard. After wrapping one piece I place them in a deep plastic container which I placed inside a plastic bag that fits the container to prevent the air from turning the wrappers hard since it would take some time for you to finish wrapping everything and the plastic bag would allow easy access for you to put the shanghai without exposing the made ones to the air. It takes some time though for you to learn how to wrap the shanghai tightly so it won't break and open when fried. As they say, Practice makes perfect! hehehe!! I normally use the 50 pcs. of wrappers so i won't have to store the meat in one container and the wrappers into another. This way i save up on space in my refrigerator. It also comes in handy to my hubby when he needs to cook dinner if am still not home. The sauce you can place in a small boiler and add some tomato catsup, sugar and thickening agent like water mixed with some cornstarch to make it thick and then adjust the taste of the drippings and you have a wonderful dipping sauce for the shanghai that is flavorful and free..