Lumpiang Shanghai (Beef Spring Rolls)

This recipe of Lumpiang Shanghai is very special to me and Carl. For everyone who knew us while we were living in Hawaii, you would probably remember that I used to head the mass production of Lumpia for quite some time as the food chairman for BYU-Hawaii's Filipino Club. (And who wouldn't forget that semester when we weren't able to sell any because we were supposedly not following safety guidelines in our preparations!). But more than that, Carl and I will always remember the time when we made batches of Lumpia and sold them frozen for $6.00 per dozen. It did help us get by while I was in between contracts...and I was able to improve my recipe!

Last night, we had Lumpiang Shanghai for dinner. My sister-in-law Jasmine and I pre-made these and were stored in the freezer since Wednesday. Here's my recipe for Lumpiang Shanghai.

LUMPIANG SHANGHAI
Ingredients:
1 lb fresh ground beef
1 medium onion, minced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 medium carrot, shredded
3 sprigs fresh curly parsley, chopped (1 1/2 tbsp. dried)
1/3 cup ketchup
2 tbsp. salt
1 tbsp. black pepper
1/3 tbsp. garlic powder
2 tbsp. flour
2 eggs
Spring Roll Wrappers (Rice Paper), approximately 25 pieces

In a bowl, mix all ingredients and 1 beaten egg until flavors are well blended and mixture feels lumpy. Cover with plastic wrap, set aside or keep refrigerated until ready to wrap. Meanwhile, separate each spring roll wrapper carefully to avoid tearing. When ready to wrap, keep a small saucer of beaten egg accessible as this will be used to seal the spring rolls,
To wrap a spring roll, lay a piece of wrapper on a flat surface with one of its corners facing you (like a diamond shape). Scoop a tablespoonful of the mixture and spread horizontally on the wrapper, about two inches above the corner facing you about an inch or inch and a half on both sides. Keep the thickness of the mixtures to about the size of your forefinger. Pick up the bottom corner of the wrapper and fold over. Press the mixture snug, being careful not to tear the wrapper, and roll until half-way up. Fold the two sides over and continue rolling up, making sure the rolls are wrapped snug. When about two inches to top, brush the unfolded part of the wrapper with the beaten egg then roll all the way to the top to seal the spring roll.
Deep fry until golden brown. Transfer to a plate lined with paper towels to absorb excess oil. Serve with sweet and sour or sweet chili sauce.


Lumpiang Shanghai can be pre-made and stored in the freezer, like what my sister-in-law and I did. The longest I've stored them is about a week, and the quality is still as if I mixed the meat and wrapped them the same day. Any busy mom can do this on a weekend and just thaw a couple "sticks" when everyone is in for a Lumpia Night! Just let it thaw on your kitchen counter or microwave 20 seconds at a time, until the spring rolls come off from the frozen bundle easily and pat them dry with a paper towel before dropping into the deep fryer.

This can be served as a main dish with rice or stir-fry noodles, or as an appetizer. For a more petite lumpia cut the spring roll wrappers in half, creating two triangles. When wrapping lumpia using these triangles, lay each triangle on a flat surface, with the longest side closest to you. Scoop about 1 - 2 teaspoons of the mixture and spread about an inch above the side closest to you. Wrap and roll as if you would a regular size lumpia.

BEEF BROCCOLI

On a day when we're stuck on the road and we're too hungry to wait for a home-cooked meal, Carl and I could never be grateful enough to Chinese take-out - and Panda Express has become one of our favorite to-go places. Carl always tells me that Chinese restaurants/diners doesn't invest much on how their place looks like - but they almost always make sure the food is good, the servings are huge, and the prices are awesome. For me, Panda Express is all about those three things plus, the nice place thats makes you want to eat inside their store. Whenever we resort to Panda, Carl always orders Orange Chicken and I always order Beef Broccoli, because I always try to have some vegetables on my meals.

I have this habit of eating something I really like from a restaurant over and over again, until I think I can make it at home myself and I wouldn't know the difference - and Beef Broccoli is my latest victim. Here's my MYOTO*  version of Beef Broccoli.

BEEF BROCCOLI

Ingredients:
1 lb beef, thinly sliced
1 crown broccoli, cut into spears
1 small onion, cut into rings
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 cup soy sauce
1 cup lemon/lime soda
1 cup beef broth (or 1/2 tbsp beef bouillon powder dissolved in 1 cup water)
1 tbsp garlic powder
salt
pepper
2 tbsp butter
3 tbsp cornstarch.

In a bowl, marinate beef in 1/4 cup soy sauce, garlic powder, and salt, and pepper. Marinate for 1 to 2 hours.

In the mean time, blanch broccoli spears in boiling water for at least 3 minutes. Remove from hot water then shock in cold water, then set aside.
 ___

In a hot skillet, saute garlic in butter, Rub marinated beef with cornstarch, then stri-fry it until browned. Add remaining 1/4 cup of soy sauce and beef broth. Stir together and let simmer for about 5 to 7 minutes. Add lemon/lime soda and simmer again for another 5 to 7 minutes. Add onion rings and broccoli spears, stir together and season with salt and pepper. Simmer until done, about another 5 minutes.

Serves 4-6.

In this recipe, I used lemon/lime soda to tenderize the beef faster and enhances the flavor of the meat. Also, because the broccoli is cooked separately and only added when the beef is almost done, it doesn't get overcooked and its vitamins are not lost with too much boiling. Broccoli is known to be rich is Vitamins A, C, and K, dietery fiber and nutrients with anti-cancer properties. If you are not a broccoli fan, you can substitute it with potato, zucchini, or green beans.

By the way, MYOTO is a term I learned from Racheal Ray's cookbooks, meaning Make Your Own Take Out.