Crispy Pork Lumpia Recipe: A Filipino Favorite

Deep Fried Filipino Pork Lumpia with Dipping Sauce | Brent Hofacker

Golden, crisp, and filled with savory seasoned pork and vegetables, lumpia is the kind of appetizer that has a habit of disappearing almost as quickly as it reaches the table. These slender Filipino spring rolls fry up wonderfully crunchy on the outside while remaining juicy and flavorful inside.

This pork version is inspired by lumpiang Shanghai, one of the most familiar varieties of fried Filipino lumpia. Ground pork is mixed with finely chopped vegetables, garlic, soy sauce, and seasonings, then rolled tightly in delicate lumpia wrappers and fried until crisp and deeply golden.

Serve the finished lumpia piled onto a platter with sweet chili dipping sauce on the side, just like the dish pictured here. They are excellent for parties, potlucks, holidays, or as part of a larger Filipino-inspired meal, although there is certainly nothing stopping you from making a batch simply because you are craving something crispy.

🇵🇭 What Is Lumpia?

Lumpia refers to a family of filled rolls found in Filipino cuisine. Some varieties are served fresh, while others are wrapped in thin pastry and fried until crisp.

The fried pork-filled version commonly known as lumpiang Shanghai is especially popular at parties and celebrations in the Philippines. Despite its name, lumpiang Shanghai is considered a distinctly Filipino adaptation, although lumpia itself reflects the long history of Chinese culinary influence in the Philippines.

What makes fried lumpia particularly distinctive is its wrapper. Lumpia wrappers are very thin, which allows them to become exceptionally crisp when fried without creating a heavy layer of pastry around the filling.

For this recipe, look for packages labeled lumpia wrappers in the freezer section of an Asian or Filipino grocery store. Spring roll wrappers can work in a pinch, but traditional lumpia wrappers give you the delicate, shatteringly crisp exterior that makes these little rolls so good.

🛒 Ingredients

Makes approximately 30 lumpia

For the Pork Lumpia

1 pound ground pork
1/2 cup finely grated or minced carrot
1/2 cup finely chopped yellow onion
3 green onions, thinly sliced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 large egg
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon sesame oil, optional
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
About 30 lumpia wrappers
Vegetable, canola, or peanut oil for frying

For Sealing the Wrappers

1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons water

For the Sweet Chili Dipping Sauce

1/2 cup rice vinegar
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup water
1 to 2 tablespoons sambal oelek or another chili-garlic sauce
1 clove garlic, finely minced
1 teaspoon cornstarch
1 tablespoon water

🥕 Make the Pork Filling

Place the ground pork in a large mixing bowl. Add the carrot, yellow onion, green onions, garlic, egg, soy sauce, sesame oil if using, black pepper, and salt.

Mix everything gently but thoroughly until the vegetables and seasonings are evenly distributed through the pork. Your hands work particularly well for this, although a sturdy spoon will also do the job.

Because the filling contains raw pork, don’t taste it to check the seasoning. Instead, take about a teaspoon of filling and cook it in a small skillet until completely cooked through. Taste that little sample and adjust the salt, pepper, or soy sauce in the remaining mixture if needed.

This tiny extra step can make a big difference, particularly since the saltiness of soy sauce varies by brand.

🌯 How to Roll Lumpia

Lumpia wrappers can dry out surprisingly quickly once they are exposed to air, so keep the stack covered with a slightly damp clean kitchen towel while you work.

Lay one wrapper on your work surface with a corner pointing toward you.

Place about 1 to 1 1/2 tablespoons of pork filling near the bottom portion of the wrapper. Shape the filling into a narrow log about 4 inches long.

Fold the bottom corner over the filling, then roll once or twice. Fold both side corners inward, much like you would when making a burrito.

Continue rolling tightly toward the remaining corner.

Mix the flour and water together in a small bowl to make a simple paste. Brush a little onto the final corner of the wrapper and finish rolling to seal the lumpia.

Set the finished roll seam-side down and continue until all of the filling has been used.

📏 Keep Them Thin

One of the secrets to especially good lumpia is resisting the temptation to overfill them.

Lumpiang Shanghai should generally be fairly slender. A thin roll cooks more evenly, gives you a better proportion of crispy wrapper to savory filling, and reduces the chance that the outside will become too dark before the pork inside is completely cooked.

Overstuffed lumpia are also more likely to split open in the frying oil.

If this is your first time making them, roll one or two test pieces before doing the entire batch. You will quickly get a feel for the right amount of filling.

🍳 How to Fry Lumpia

Pour enough oil into a heavy saucepan, Dutch oven, or deep skillet to reach a depth of about 1 1/2 to 2 inches.

Heat the oil to 350°F.

Carefully lower several lumpia into the hot oil without crowding the pan. Fry them in batches so that the oil temperature does not drop dramatically.

Cook for approximately 4 to 6 minutes, turning occasionally, until the wrappers are crisp and evenly golden and the pork filling is fully cooked.

Because these contain raw ground pork, the filling should reach an internal temperature of 160°F.

Use tongs or a slotted spoon to transfer the finished lumpia to a wire rack set over a baking sheet. A rack is particularly good for keeping the wrappers crisp because excess oil can drip away rather than collecting underneath the rolls.

Allow the oil to return to approximately 350°F before frying the next batch.

🌡️ Why Oil Temperature Matters

Temperature control is one of the biggest differences between beautifully crisp lumpia and oily lumpia.

If the oil is much cooler than 350°F, the wrappers may absorb too much oil before they become crisp. If the oil is excessively hot, the wrapper can brown before the raw pork filling has enough time to cook safely.

A clip-on frying thermometer or instant-read thermometer takes most of the guesswork out of the process.

Also avoid adding too many lumpia at once. Every frozen or room-temperature roll lowers the temperature of the oil when it enters the pan.

🌶️ Make the Sweet Chili Dipping Sauce

While you are rolling the lumpia or between frying batches, prepare the dipping sauce.

Combine the rice vinegar, sugar, 1/4 cup water, chili sauce, and garlic in a small saucepan.

Bring the mixture to a gentle boil, stirring occasionally until the sugar dissolves. Reduce the heat and simmer for about 4 to 5 minutes.

In a small bowl, stir together the cornstarch and 1 tablespoon water until smooth. Slowly pour this slurry into the simmering sauce while stirring.

Continue cooking for another minute or two, until the sauce becomes lightly thickened and glossy.

Remove it from the heat and allow it to cool. The sauce will thicken a little more as it sits.

Taste it once cooled and adjust the chile level if desired. The sauce should be sweet, tangy, garlicky, and just spicy enough to contrast with the rich pork filling.

🍶 Other Dipping Sauces for Lumpia

Sweet chili sauce is delicious with pork lumpia, but it certainly isn’t your only option.

A simple seasoned vinegar is another wonderful choice. Combine cane vinegar or rice vinegar with minced garlic, freshly ground black pepper, and sliced fresh chile. Its sharp acidity cuts straight through the richness of fried lumpia.

You can also serve lumpia with sweet-and-sour sauce, banana ketchup, or a mixture of soy sauce and calamansi if you have access to fresh calamansi.

For a party, putting out two dipping sauces gives guests a choice between something sweet and something bright and acidic.

✨ How to Get Extra-Crispy Lumpia

Start with the right wrapper. Thin lumpia wrappers fry considerably lighter and crisper than thick egg-roll wrappers.

Keep your filling relatively dry as well. Finely chop the vegetables rather than using large pieces, and avoid adding watery vegetables unless they have been squeezed or drained first.

Roll each lumpia snugly, but don’t squeeze so tightly that the wrapper tears. Air pockets and loose rolls can encourage oil to work its way inside.

Finally, drain fried lumpia on a wire rack rather than piling them immediately onto a plate. Stacking piping-hot lumpia traps steam, and steam is the enemy of a crisp wrapper.

❄️ Can You Make Lumpia Ahead of Time?

Yes, and this is one of the reasons lumpia is such a useful party food.

You can roll the lumpia earlier in the day, arrange them in a single layer, cover them well, and keep them refrigerated until you are ready to fry.

They can also be frozen before frying. Arrange the uncooked rolls on a parchment-lined baking sheet without allowing them to touch and freeze until firm. Once frozen, transfer them to a freezer-safe container or bag.

Freezing them individually first prevents the wrappers from sticking together.

There is no need to thaw frozen lumpia completely before frying. Fry them carefully in batches, allowing a little additional cooking time and checking that the pork filling reaches 160°F.

🍚 What to Serve with Pork Lumpia

Lumpia is probably most familiar as a finger-food appetizer, and a platter of crisp rolls with dipping sauce is perfect for a party.

For dinner, pair the lumpia with steamed jasmine rice or garlic fried rice and a vegetable dish. Pancit, adobo, grilled meats, or a fresh cucumber salad can turn the rolls into part of a larger Filipino-inspired feast.

Because lumpia is rich and crisp, fresh and acidic accompaniments work particularly well. Even a simple mixture of sliced cucumber with vinegar and a little salt provides a refreshing contrast.

And if you are feeding a crowd, make more lumpia than you think you will need. They tend to vanish quickly.

🥡 How to Reheat Leftover Lumpia

Lumpia tastes best shortly after frying, when the wrappers are at their crispest, but leftovers can still be very good.

Store cooked lumpia in the refrigerator once they have cooled. When it is time to reheat them, an oven or air fryer will restore the crisp exterior better than a microwave.

Arrange the rolls in a single layer so hot air can circulate around them and heat until the centers are thoroughly hot and the wrappers have crisped again.

Microwaving works when convenience matters most, but it tends to soften the wrappers.

🥢 What Makes Lumpiang Shanghai Different?

There are many different kinds of lumpia, and not all of them look or taste alike.

Fresh lumpia, or lumpiang sariwa, is soft rather than fried and typically contains vegetables wrapped in a delicate crepe-like wrapper. Lumpiang gulay emphasizes vegetables, while other regional and household versions can contain everything from seafood to sweet fillings.

Lumpiang Shanghai is known for being small, fried, crisp, and commonly filled with seasoned ground meat, particularly pork, along with finely minced vegetables.

That combination makes it especially well suited to celebrations. The rolls are easy to pick up, easy to dip, and small enough that everyone can reach for another.

🇵🇭 A Filipino Party Favorite

Lumpia reflects one of the things that makes Filipino cooking so fascinating: dishes can carry traces of centuries of cultural exchange while becoming unmistakably Filipino in the process.

Chinese culinary influence has long been part of Philippine food culture, but Filipino cooks developed their own varieties, fillings, wrappers, sauces, and traditions surrounding lumpia.

Lumpiang Shanghai has become particularly associated with celebrations and gatherings, where platters of crisp fried rolls are an easy food to share.

You do not need a special occasion to make them, though. Once you hear that first crackle of a freshly fried wrapper and dip a hot pork lumpia into sweet chili sauce, an ordinary dinner feels a little more festive.

🥟 Crispy Pork Lumpia Recipe

Prep Time: 35 minutes
Cook Time: About 25 minutes
Total Time: About 1 hour
Yield: Approximately 30 lumpia

Ingredients

For the Lumpia

1 pound ground pork
1/2 cup finely grated carrot
1/2 cup finely chopped yellow onion
3 green onions, thinly sliced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 large egg
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon sesame oil, optional
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
About 30 lumpia wrappers
Vegetable, canola, or peanut oil for frying

For Sealing

1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons water

For the Sweet Chili Sauce

1/2 cup rice vinegar
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup water
1 to 2 tablespoons sambal oelek or chili-garlic sauce
1 garlic clove, minced
1 teaspoon cornstarch
1 tablespoon water

Instructions

Combine the pork, carrot, onion, green onions, garlic, egg, soy sauce, sesame oil, black pepper, and salt in a large bowl. Mix until evenly combined.
Cook a teaspoon-size portion of the filling in a skillet until completely cooked. Taste and adjust the seasoning in the remaining filling if necessary.
Combine 1 tablespoon flour with 2 tablespoons water to make a sealing paste.
Place one lumpia wrapper on a clean work surface. Keep the remaining wrappers covered while you work.
Place about 1 to 1 1/2 tablespoons filling near one edge and shape it into a thin log.
Fold the wrapper over the filling, fold in the sides, and roll tightly. Brush the final edge with flour paste and seal. Repeat with the remaining filling and wrappers.
Heat approximately 1 1/2 to 2 inches of frying oil to 350°F.
Fry the lumpia in small batches for approximately 4 to 6 minutes, turning as needed, until crisp and golden and the pork filling reaches 160°F.
Transfer the cooked lumpia to a wire rack to drain.
For the sauce, combine the vinegar, sugar, 1/4 cup water, chili sauce, and garlic in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat, and simmer for about 5 minutes.
Mix the cornstarch with 1 tablespoon water. Stir it into the sauce and simmer briefly until lightly thickened.
Serve the pork lumpia hot and crisp with the sweet chili dipping sauce alongside.

Crispy Pork Lumpia Recipe: A Filipino Favorite

🇵🇭 What Is Lumpia?