Lumpia, but make it Thanksgiving
Everything I need to know about holiday leftovers, I learned at a Chili's in Gainesville.
A lifetime or three ago, I had my first Southwest Eggroll at the American culinary institution known as Chili’s.
A crisp wonton skin wrapped around chicken, black beans, cheese and corn, then deep fried till golden brown and carelessly greasy — for a half-Filipina kid, it was a revelation.
Pre-Chili’s my eggroll knowledge was “limited” to the thick boys with the blistered shells from Tung Hing on Fowler Street in Fort Myers, and the thinner, crispier spring rolls we’d get with our curries and satay from the old Thai Gardens on College Parkway.
And, of course, there was lumpia. AALLLL the lumpia.
Mom’s friend Tita Evelyn made lumpia togue, short little thumb-like things filled with vegetables. Tito Robert makes his lumpia long and slim, neatly wrapped and always evenly fried. In the Philippines, I had my first turon, a sweet take on lumpia filled with banana or kamote and dusted in brown sugar so the shell gets all caramelized and crackling.
But the lumpia by which all lumpia will forever be measured for me come from my mom. She makes hers sort of like the classic lumpia Shanghai, as little two-bite snackers filled with ground beef, finely minced root vegetables and, if we ask nicely, some shredded cheese (more like lumpia Americana).
Before you get too excited, this isn’t that kind of lumpia recipe. You’ll have to stay tuned for that one.
What the venerable Chili’s dish taught me all those years ago was that anything (anything? YES, ANYTHING!) can be lumpia. Taco Tuesday leftovers, meatloaf, s’mores — wrap them in wonton skins, pan fry them in hot oil and voila: LUMPIA.
Perhaps the most wondrous of all the lumpia: Lumpia Thanksgiving.
I first made this recipe a few years ago, and it’s everything you love about the holiday packed into an eggroll wrapper. The key is to keep the filling dry. Turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, green beans — all great fillers. But save the gravy and cranberries for dipping sauces, or else you risk steamy explosions in the frying pan.
Lumpia Thanksgiving
Ingredients
6-8 eggroll wrappers (be sure to use the thicker, sturdier eggroll wrappers and not the thinner flour/rice wrappers)
1/2-1 cup leftover turkey, shredded
1/2-1 cup leftover vegetables (green beans, Brussels, asparagus, glazed carrots, what-have-you)
1/2-1 cup leftover mashed potatoes
1/2-1 cup leftover stuffing
Small bowl of water for sealing the ends
Peanut oil (or other high-heat oil)
Directions
The beauty of these eggrolls is you can fill them how you like. Use more turkey, less turkey or no turkey. Got a bunch of crispy tofu left over? Use that! Put mashed potatoes in one eggroll and stuffing in another. They will be good regardless.
The important thing is to fill the eggroll wrappers as you would a burrito. Since most eggroll wrappers are square, place the wrapper so one corner is pointed toward you, then layer in your fillings in a thick line so that corner can be tucked up and over them once you start wrapping. Push the corner up, start rolling and then tuck in the sides. To seal the wrappers, use a few drops of water.
I like to let the egg rolls sit for 5-10 minutes in the fridge to dry them out before frying. I pan fry them in about 1 inch of hot oil, turning them every couple of minutes until the wrappers are crispy, bubbly with little blisters and golden brown.
Cut in half before serving with leftover gravy and/or the following cranberry dipping sauce.
Cranberry dipping sauce
Ingredients
1 cup leftover cranberry sauce
2-3 tablespoons water or orange juice or red/white wine
1 teaspoon orange zest (optional)
Directions
Combine ingredients in a microwave-safe bowl and heat for 30 seconds to 1 minute, stirring to combine until warm and saucy.