I love fresh lumpia ! Whenever I’d go to my favorite restaurant, my meal would be incomplete without ordering my favorite fresh lumpia.

Ingredients

WRAPPERS/ CREPE
2 large eggs
1 1/4 cup water
1/2 cup cornstarch
1/2 cup flour
1/8 tsp salt
3 tbsp cooking oil for frying wrappers

FILLING

1/2 cup onion (julienned)
1 tsp garlic (minced)
boneless skinless chicken breast (half thinly sliced) Note: You can also use 1 lb ground pork.
1/4 lb medium raw shrimp (shelled, deveined, and halved)
1 1/2 cup jicama (finely-julienned )
1/2 small carrot (finely julienned)
green onions (finely julienned)
2 tsp oyster-flavored sauce
1 tsp Filipino fish sauce (patis)
1/4 tsp black pepper (freshly-ground)

Procedure
A. Prepare the wrappers:
1. In a bowl, whisk together eggs, water, cornstarch, flour, and salt until smooth. Strain batter.
2. Place a nonstick 8-inch omelet pan over medium heat until hot; brush with 1/4 teaspoon oil. Pour 1/4 cup batter into pan; tilt pan so batter covers entire surface. Cook until edge of wrapper is lightly browned and surface looks dry, about 45 seconds. Loosen edge with a spatula, turn wrapper, and cook 10 seconds longer. Turn wrapper out of pan onto a plate. Repeat to use all batter.

Prepare filling:
1. Place a wok over high heat until hot. Add 1 tablespoon oil, swirling to coat sides. Add onion and garlic. Stir-fry for 30 seconds.
2. Add chicken and shrimp; stir-fry for 2 minutes. Remove from pan.
3. Heat 1 tablespoon oil. Add jicama and carrot; stir-fry for 1 minute. Add green onions; cook until vegetables are tender crisp, about 2 minutes.
4. Return chicken mixture to pan; add oyster-flavored sauce, fish sauce, and pepper; cook for 1 minute. Cool.
5. Cut lettuce in half lengthwise. For each lumpia, place a piece of lettuce on wrapper. Spoon about 1/3 cup filling into center of wrapper. Fold bottom third of wrapper over filling, then fold in sides.
6. Serve with garlic dipping sauce or a mixture of hoisin sauce and soy sauce.
7. This recipe yields 10 servings.

Filipino palate is compatible with Oriental dishes. Here’s something different we can all try.

Ingredients

1/4 kg chicken breast deboned
1 can (439 g) DEL MONTE Fresh Cut Pineapple Tidbits,drained (reserve syrup)
1 pc medium red apple, diced and soaked in 1/4 cup pineapple syrup
2 cups cooked rice
2 stalks celery, thinly sliced diagonally
1/4 cup roasted peanuts or cashew nuts, coarsely chopped
50 g singkamas, diced
3/4 cup mayonnaise
1/4 tsp iodized fine salt
1/8 tsp pepper
1 tsp curry powder (optional)

Procedure

1. Simmer chicken in remaining pineapple syrup with 1/4 tsp iodized finesalt (or 1/4 tbsp iodized rock salt) for 7 minutes. Drain and dice chicken.Set aside.
2. Drain apple.Combine with remaining ingredients. Mix well then chill.

The “adobo” dish comes from the Spanish word for a marinade. Filipinos love to cook up something new from what’s ordinary. The vinegar marinade,especially the native vinegar, makes the dish so tasty and delicious.

Here’s another adobo recipe for you to enjoy:

Ingredients
2 1/2 to 3 pound Chicken, cut into serving pieces
3/4 cup White vinegar
1/4 cup Soy sauce
1/2 Onion, thinly sliced
4-6 cloves Garlic, crushed
1-2 Bay leaf
6-8 Peppercorns
1 teaspoon Salt
1 cup Water
1/4 cup Oil

Procedure
1. For a tasty marinade, add the chicken pieces, vinegar, soy sauce, onion, garlic, bay leaf, peppercorns and salt to a large, non-reactive bowl.Refrigerate for 1-4 hours.
2. Put the chicken and its marinade in a large pot. Add the water and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 30-45 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through and tender. Add water as necessary to keep the chicken from drying out.
3. Remove the chicken from its sauce, reserving the sauce, and pat dry. Heat the oil in a skillet over medium-high flame and sauté the chicken pieces to brown them. Remove from heat and set aside.
4. Bring the sauce to a boil over medium flame and cook until somewhat reduced and thickened.
5. Toss the browned chicken pieces with the reduced sauce and serve with steaming hot rice.

Children will always enjoy their meal with any kind of soup. The popular choice for soup is a quick mix of chicken fillet sauted with vegetables. It’s a soup dish your children will enjoy. This is also recommended for diet conscious people.

Ingredients
1 tbsp butter
1 med. onion, chopped
100g chicken breast fillet, cubed
1 cup canned chick peas, skinned
½ cup shitake mushroom
1 stalk celery, chopped
1 ½ cup Nesvita Pro-weight Management dissolved in 1 liter water
2- 11g Maggi Chicken Broth cubes
Salt and pepper to taste
1 medium red bell pepper

Procedure
1. Heat butter, sauté onion. Stir in chicken and cook until chicken is done.
2. Add chick peas. Cook for 2 minutes. Stir in mushroom and celery.
3. Pour in Nesvita and simmer. Season with Maggi Chicken Broth Cube, salt and pepper.
4. Garnish with bell pepper before serving. Serve hot.

We, Filipinos love to eat. Aside from the three meals, we also have “merienda”. Merienda served to the family can be an exciting treat to the family members especially if it’s something freshly cooked from the kitchen…sprinkled with a touch of tender loving care!

Try this chicken empanaditas for merienda (snacks).

Ingredients
3 tablespoons chopped onion
3 tablespoons butter
1 3/4 cups shredded, cooked chicken meat
3 tablespoons chicken stock
1/4 teaspoon garlic salt
1/4 teaspoon poultry seasoning
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 (3 ounce) package cream cheese, diced
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1 cup butter, chilled
5 tablespoons cold water

Procedure
1. In a large skillet saute the onion in the butter until tender. Stir in the chicken, chicken broth, garlic salt, poultry seasoning, pepper and cream cheese. Remove from heat and set aside. (This is very important!)
2. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
3. In a large bowl mix together the flour, salt and paprika; cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Gradually add water, tossing with a fork until a ball forms.
4. On a floured surface roll out the pastry to 1/16 inch thick. Cut with a 2 1/2 inch round cookie or biscuit cutter. Reroll scraps and cut more circles until the pastry is used up.
5. Mound a heaping teaspoon of filling on half of each circle. Moisten edges with water and fold pastry over filling to make a half moon shape. Press edges with a fork to seal. Prick tops with a fork for steam vents.
6. Place empanaditas on a baking sheet and bake at 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) for 15 to 20 minutes or until golden brown.