Pork Lumpias from the Tropical Hideaway
Disneyland is an iconic location itself. Inside the park is an endless number of hidden gems. Photo spots. Sunset spots. Character spots. My favorite are the food spots. Tropical Hideaway is my favorite food spot in Disneyland. It has amazing atmosphere with the neighboring Tiki Room, parrots hanging out in the courtyard, and tropical decor. It serves my all time favorite treat - Dole Whip - and routinely has new and exciting sweet and savory options to pair with a whip!
A delicious newcomer to the party is the Pork Lumpia. Lumpias are a type of spring roll common if Filipino cooking. Since I recently tried my hand at some Cheeseburger Spring Rolls I knew the rest of the wrappers would be perfect in lumpia form! Not only is this dish straight from the Tropical Hideaway's menu, it is one of the best things I think I've made. At least anything that got deep fried. The recipe is based off the Tasty's for pork lumpias with some additions and adjustments.
Making lumpias starts with a filling. Chopping all the vegetables ahead of time is important in this type of recipe. The filling is cooked at medium-high heat with shorter cooking times so you don't want to be trying to finely mine carrots and overheat your oil. I minced onion, carrot, garlic, and water chestnut before turning on the stove. I also had a tube of grated ginger in the fridge which I love for cooking with ginger so I don't have to grate or peel or worry.
The original recipe doesn't include cabbage but I enjoy cabbage in spring rolls so I wanted to include some. I used pre-cut cabbage for convenience but you can also finely slice your own! To ensure the sodium balance stayed accurate I used more soy sauce after adding the cabbage. Cooking the cabbage with the water chestnut with additional soy sauce once the pork was browned helped to incorporate it, give it additional flavor, and keep the filling a consistent texture. If you aren't a big pork eater or would like to do all vegetable this recipe could easily be adapted (see recipe suggestions below).
Once the filling was done, I followed the same technique to fill the lumpias as with the Cheeseburger Spring Rolls. Spoon the filling near the bottom of wrapper positioned like a diamond, roll bottom over, tuck in sides, roll toward top, eggs wash this time to seal due to deep frying! Instead of deep frying in my large dutch oven, I was inspired by the small batch deep frying instructions from the Disney Parks Blog Churro Bites and used a slightly larger 2 quart pan filled up to 1 inch of oil. My deep frying thermometer was present and accounted for. It was the perfect set-up to over the lumpia and get the temperature just right during frying. Less oil to transfer back and forth with a smaller pan means less waste and less mess. I am definitely going to continue to use this method with confidence. The trick is using a thick bottomed pot and a thermometer!
I served the lumpia with store bought sweet chili sauce which makes them quite spicy. On their own they are savory yet bright from the ginger with a delectable crispness as a result of deep frying. I know you and your family will love these!
Making lumpias starts with a filling. Chopping all the vegetables ahead of time is important in this type of recipe. The filling is cooked at medium-high heat with shorter cooking times so you don't want to be trying to finely mine carrots and overheat your oil. I minced onion, carrot, garlic, and water chestnut before turning on the stove. I also had a tube of grated ginger in the fridge which I love for cooking with ginger so I don't have to grate or peel or worry.
The original recipe doesn't include cabbage but I enjoy cabbage in spring rolls so I wanted to include some. I used pre-cut cabbage for convenience but you can also finely slice your own! To ensure the sodium balance stayed accurate I used more soy sauce after adding the cabbage. Cooking the cabbage with the water chestnut with additional soy sauce once the pork was browned helped to incorporate it, give it additional flavor, and keep the filling a consistent texture. If you aren't a big pork eater or would like to do all vegetable this recipe could easily be adapted (see recipe suggestions below).
Once the filling was done, I followed the same technique to fill the lumpias as with the Cheeseburger Spring Rolls. Spoon the filling near the bottom of wrapper positioned like a diamond, roll bottom over, tuck in sides, roll toward top, eggs wash this time to seal due to deep frying! Instead of deep frying in my large dutch oven, I was inspired by the small batch deep frying instructions from the Disney Parks Blog Churro Bites and used a slightly larger 2 quart pan filled up to 1 inch of oil. My deep frying thermometer was present and accounted for. It was the perfect set-up to over the lumpia and get the temperature just right during frying. Less oil to transfer back and forth with a smaller pan means less waste and less mess. I am definitely going to continue to use this method with confidence. The trick is using a thick bottomed pot and a thermometer!
I served the lumpia with store bought sweet chili sauce which makes them quite spicy. On their own they are savory yet bright from the ginger with a delectable crispness as a result of deep frying. I know you and your family will love these!
Pork Lumpia
Yield 25
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1 medium yellow onion, minced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 medium carrot, minced
- 1 tablespoon fresh ginger, grated
- 1/2 - 1 lb ground pork
- 1-2 cups green cabbage, finely shredded
- 12 oz water chestnuts, minced
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 4 teaspoons soy sauce, divided
- ¼ cup green onion, minced
- 2 tablespoons fresh cilantro, minced, plus more for garnish
- 1 ½ cups oil, for frying (neutral oil ie canola, corn, vegetable)
- 25 spring roll or egg roll wrappers
- 1 egg, beaten
- sweet chili sauce, for serving
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a medium pan over medium-high heat.
- Add the onion, garlic, ginger, and carrot. Cook for 4 minutes, or until the onion is slightly translucent.
- Add the ground pork and cook for about 6 minutes until no pink is showing. Add 2 tsp soy sauce and mix to combine. (If you’d prefer more vegetables reduce pork to half pound and increase cabbage to 2 cups).
- Add cabbage, water chestnuts, salt, pepper, and soy sauce. Stir for 2 minutes, then mix in the green onion and cilantro. Remove the pan from the heat and let cool.
- Heat about an inch oil in a 2 quart sauce pan until it reaches 300 degrees F.
- Lay out one wrapper in a diamond shape and spoon 2 tablespoons of filling in the bottom half of the wrapper.
- Fold the bottom point over the filling, then fold in the edges to create an envelope shape. Roll the wrapper toward the top point. Brush the top point with egg wash and finish the roll to seal the end.
- Carefully place four lumpia at a time in the hot oil. Frying on each side for 2 minutes, or until golden brown. Allow temperature of oil to come back up to 300 degrees F before starting a second batch. (Increase the heat slightly once dropping a batch in to try and keep the temperature around 280 degrees F for better frying).
- Remove the lumpia from the oil and drain paper towels.
- Serve with sweet chili dipping sauce. Enjoy!
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