This recipe originally appeared on Moonglow Gardens.  Please visit New Blog On The Block:  YUMIVORE.

Fresh Lumpia is a traditional Filipino dish made with mainly vegetables and folded in a soft crepe made with corn starch or flour (or both), water, and eggs.  Though it may not be as popular as Lumpiang Shanghai (made with meat and deep fried), it is a healthier alternative.

It’s very rare that I make this dish since I still wish and hope that I get to go home to San Diego and leave the cooking to my Ate Ruby (ate btw, is a Filipino kinship term from Chinese che meaning older sister) who makes The Best Fresh Lumpia.  In a way it’s a big blessing I moved far from home.  I discovered my love to garden and I learned to cook.

Fresh Lumpia comes in three (3) parts:

• Filling
• Sauce
• Crepe

For the filling, I’m using seasonal vegetables from the garden that have been ignored by the Resident Evils (squirrels).

• Red Acre Cabbage
• Carrots
• Sugarsnap Peas

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons olive oil or peanut oil (yummy)
• 4 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 2 cups sugarsnap peas, halved diagonally
• 1 cup carrot, julienned
• 1/2 head of cabbage
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Heat oil in wok or skillet.  Saute garlic until fragrant then onions until translucent.
2. Add and stir-fry shredded cabbage for a few minutes.  You may add 2 tablespoons of water to steam the cabbage.  Season with salt and pepper.
3. Add the sugarsnap peas and carrots and cook for additional two (2) minutes.  Veggies will still be crunchy!  Or you may want to cook it longer.
4. Adjust salt and pepper if necessary.
5. Remove from heat and transfer to a colander to remove liquid.

Sauce

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon olive oil or peanut oil
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup peanut butter
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1 cup water
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch dissolved in 1 cup water

Directions

1. In a small saucepan, heat oil and saute garlic until fragrant.
2. Add brown sugar, peanut butter, and soy sauce.  Whisk until smooth.  Sauce should be fairly thick.
3. Slowly add water and continue whisking.
4. Slowly add water with cornstarch and let sauce thicken and cornstarch cooked through.
5. Transfer to a gravy dish.

Crepe

Ingredients

• 1 cup flour
• 1/2 cup cornstarch
• 1 1/2 cups  water
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten

Directions

1. Heat non-stick skillet or crepe pan.
2. In a medium mixing bowl sift flour and cornstarch together.
3. Slowly whisk in lightly beaten eggs, then water.
4. Ladle 1/4 cup batter onto pan.  Tilt the pan with a circular motion for batter to coat surface evenly.
5. Crepe should be cooked when edges start to lift off pan.

Assembly

1. Fill crepe with approximately 1/2 cup filling.
2. Gently fold sides of crepe.
3. Ladle peanut sauce on top.