4cupstogue (also called mung bean sprouts), cleaned
100-250gramsground meat (pork, beef or chicken)(optional. depends on how much meat you want to have) – you can substitute tofu for this
salt, to taste
pepper, to taste
20spring roll wrappers
1/4cupwater
vegetable oil, for deep frying
Vinegar Dipping Sauce
1red onion, finely chopped
3clovesgarlic, minced
1cupvinegar
1/4cupsoy sauce
1tspsugar
1/4tspcracked black pepper(2 pinches of powdered black pepper)
1pinchchili flakes(optional)
Instructions
Making the Lumpia
Heat the 2 tbsp. oil in a wok and sauté the onion and garlic until just softened and translucent. Add the meat or tofu and cook till slightly brown. Stir. Add the carrots and a little water enough to cover the carrots. Simmer for a few minutes and then add the celery. Once the carrots are just tender (they can be just slightly undercooked), turn off the heat and add the soy sauce, and bean sprouts. The residual heat will just slightly cook them. Sprinkle your salt and pepper.
Cool the filling (while it’s cooling, you can make your vinegar dipping sauce)
Roll up the spring rolls. Make sure to drain all the liquid before placing your filling in the wrapper, or the wrapper will tear and fall apart. Use about 2 heaped tbsp. per roll. You can use a dab of water at the edge of the wrapper to help moisten and seal the wrapper before frying.
Once your rolls are all done, clean out the wok and then fill generously with oil. Heat the oil and then test it by throwing in a corner of spring roll wrapper – if it floats to the top and looks like it’s fizzing then your oil is hot enough.
Deep fry the spring rolls in batches until golden brown (if you prefer, you can shallow fry them and make sure you turn them while cooking to cook both sides). You will probably need to turn them over to cook both sides as they’ll float on the surface. Once golden brown, remove with a slotted spoon and drain on a bit of paper towel to absorb excess oil.
Serve hot. If you made long lumpia, then you may want to slice them in two when serving.
Preparing the sauce
Combine all ingredients, and mix well until sugar is completely dissolved.
Notes
Fried lumpia tastes best when hot and crispy. So cook only what you can eat, and keep the uncooked rolls in a container in the refrigerator. Uncooked, it will keep for about 3-5 days before the sprouts lose that crispness. I would not recommend freezing this as the sprouts become mushy and the crispness, once cooked, just isn’t the same.For the sauce: This makes a lot of dipping sauce so you may want to save about half for another day. This will keep for another two weeks in the refrigerator. For those who do not like the heat, leave out the chili flakes and substitute a white onion for the red.