my complicated life

fresh lumpia has been the family's favorite dish which my mother and my auntie baby make superbly. here in the UAE, i have more or less lived up to the family's standards when making this dish. i made this for the new year (hooray 2010!) and the preparation time was around 3 hours. the sauteed veggies were prepared ordinarily. however, the sauce - which is hit or miss factor which i usually hit. :) my recipe is listed below. take note that i do not measure the vegetable part because i cook with tantiyahan. hehe. but normally, i make sure that i have ample quantity of carrots because it gives color to the mixture. also, it is important to have as much sweet potato because it gives the sweet contrast to the salty sauce.

as for the sauce, i listed the measurement that i use. this is a no-fail proportion. so, be sure to use those measuring cups and spoons! =)

ingredients:

for the lumpia:
cooking oil
finely minced garlic
finely chopped onion
ground pork
shelled and chopped shrimps
chicken/vegetable stock
string beans, julienned
carrots, julienned
cabbage, julienned
singkamas (turnip), julienned
sweet potato, boiled and cubed
celery (optional)
dash of salt and pepper for seasoning

for the sauce:
1 cup sugar
4 cups water
6 tablespoons soy sauce
2 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons cornstarch dissolved in 6 tablespoons of water
finely minced garlic
toasted peanuts, pounded
a dash of pepper for seasoning

extra ingredients needed:
lumpia wrapper (nope, i do not make one! hello, ayoko nang pahirapan sarili ko noh!)
lettuce

directions:

to make the lumpia:

1. brown the ground pork in adequate amount of cooking oil over medium fire.
2. set aside the browned meat in one side of the pan and sautee the garlic and onion, then combine with the pork.
3. add the shrimps until it turned into orangy-white color.
4. add chicken/vegetable stock. the amount needed to steam the vegetables later on.
5. add the string beans, carrots, turnip, cabbage and the sweet potatoes in this order. make sure to cook in low to medium fire at this stage. allow only a minute or two of interval between these ingredients. cover the pan but ensure that the vegetables are cooked still crispy altogether. please lang, do not over cook! not only does you lose the vitamins in the veggies, you also lose the pleasure of biting into a crunchy delight. hindi masarap ang lumpiang hindi na fresh. hehe.
   
6. season with salt and pepper to taste.

to make the sauce:

1. place the sugar in a sauce pan and dissolve in the water. heat until the sugar is dissolved.
2. add the soysauce and salt. heat and stir.
3. add the mixed cornstarch (with water). heat until the mixture becomes thick.
4. add in the garlic and ground peanut.
   
5. season with a dash of pepper.
6. let the sauce simmer while stirring constantly. remove from heat once the garlic and peanut flavor are mixed with the thickened sauce.
   

to serve:

1. lay the lumpia wrapper in a plate.
   
2. place the lettuce on one end with a portion outside the wrapper.
3. spoon some cooked and drained lumpia over the lettuce-wrapper portion.
4. seal in by turning the ingredients wrapped with the lumpia wrapper.
5. put the prepared roll on aplate and spread the sauce over.