Lumpiang Sariwa (Fresh Vegetable Springroll)

Woke up today craving for some deep fried vegetable egg rolls. Filipino style of course and I was motivated enough to make it.  This is a dish we usually make in a big batch and store in the freezer. I had the ingredients on hand so I started the process and halfway through peeling the carrots I just remembered I don't have the wrappers. Fantastic.

After a little pantry diving I found these tucked away in the back.

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Looks like lunch will be a little healthier today. It won't be your traditional Filipino fresh lumpias, but I think this version is lighter and just as good.

Note that the ingredients and measurements in this recipe is very flexible. Substitute and omit as much as you like and tailor it to your taste, but we had this for lunch and I can tell you, we loved it...except for the little one. I'm still working on that one to eat more vegetables.... but that's another post.

This tool right that I picked up at the Asian market is worth it's weight in gold when it comes to prep for this dish and the uniform cuts will make for even cooking of the vegetables.

 Lumpiang Sariwa filling:

3 cups shredded Japanese sweet potato
3 cups shredded carrots
2 cups shredded jicama
2 cups sliced green beans
2 cups bean sprouts
1 medium onion think sliced
1 tbsp minced garlic
2 tbsp oyster sauce
2 tbsp fish sauce
1/2 cup rough chopped Chinese celery leaves (or cilantro)
1/2 cup sliced green onions
salt and pepper to taste
vegetable oil

<sup>Make a habit of organizing your ingredients before you fire up the stove so as to avoid forgetting things then  running around the kitchen yelling to your wife (or husband) where the fish sauce is. In the professional kitchen we call this your Mise en place. (French for putting in place)

Turn the heat up high and when  the oil is hot (but not smoking) sweat the onions then garlic until fragrant. (do not brown)
Follow it up with the green beans for about a minute
Toss in the carrots and the sweet potato and stir for about 2 minutes
Add the jicama and about 30 seconds later add in the oyster sauce, fish sauce, salt and pepper.
Stir for about a minute then add the bean sprouts and rough chopped herbs. 
shut the fire off and stir.

At this point the vegetables will still have a delicate crunch to them but not raw. Transfer the mixture in to a tray to cool it quickly.</sup>

^{Once the filling has cooled to touch, make sure to drain it.}

^{Warm water is best when reconstituting the rice paper.}

 It is not necessary to wait for the wrapper to be completely soft in the water. It's much easier to work with when it is still a bit stiff.

^{Pat dry to remove excess water}

^{and to finish}

 

Here is a great recipe for Nuoc Cham, a Vietnamese dipping sauce from the folks at Sunday Night Dinner

Nuoc Cham 

And here is our lunch. 

It doesn't hurt to have a vegetarian meal once in a while. We, like the rest of you are at least trying to eat a little cleaner. Plus making this meal had plenty of filler for the compost bin. :) Let us know what you think of this recipe and visit us again soon!