one filipino dish a week

I love lumpiang ubod! Ever since I was a little kid I would devour these like a tornado through a trailer park. The texture and crunchiness of the ubod, the soft wrapper, and the sweetish brown sauce is what I remember. Most people will include ground pork, chicken, or shrimp in their lumpia. But to me I like the freshness of having an all vegetable lumpia and having the ubod shine. So I left out any meat and kept it all veggie.

So what is ubod anyway? Ubod is the heart of palm (the part of the trunk that’s closest to the leaves). Marketmanila has a great picture of fresh ubod here. Unfortunately, ubod goes bad easily and the only access I have are canned or frozen. For this attempt at making lumpiang ubod, I used frozen. The outcome was a mediocre success. It wasn’t bad but it wasn’t the most memorable I’ve even eaten. I will have to try to make this dish again and hope to find fresh ubod.

To make the Wrapper:
3 eggs
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/2 cup rice flour
3/4 cup cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups water

Combine all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth, or whisk together then strain. Heat a non-stick pan or a crepe pan. Pour a ladle full of batter and swirl it around the pan (make sure it’s thin coat). cook until bubbly and flip it over. Repeat until you have finished the remaining batter.

How to Make the Filling:
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 tablespoons mince garlic
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
2 1/2 cups harts of palm julienned
8 ounces green beans, thinly sliced
2 stalks celery, julienned
3 stems cilantro, chopped
Fish sauce to taste
green leaf lettuce
1 cup crushed dry-roasted peanuts
1/2 cup fried garlic

Saute onion and garlic in oil until soft. (This is where you would add the ground pork, chicken or shrimp in the recipe if using) Add harts of palm, green beans, celery and cilantro. Toss and cook until just tender. Add a little water if needed to simmer. Season to taste with fish sauce and pepper.

How to Make the Sauce:
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 cups chicken stock
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 tablesppons cornstarch
pepper to taste

Combine ingredients and bring to a boil, stirring until thickened.

Assembly:
To serve, place a lettuce leaf on a wrapper, the leafy part extending over the edge. Place a large spoonful of filling on the leaf and wrapper, fold in the edge opposite the lettuce, then carefully roll the wrapper around the filling. Arrange on a platter, pour the sauce over, and garnish with fried garlic and peanuts.

Eat Filipino Food!