Lumpia Semarang
Bamboo shoot spring rolls
Lumpia Semarang: fried spring rolls of bamboo shoot, egg and prawn with sweet garlic sauce
IndonesianSemarang's lumpia carts trace their recipe back to a 19th-century Chinese-Javanese couple, and today the city's Gang Lombok and Pemuda Street sellers still roll them to order. The filling is young bamboo shoot stir-fried with prawns, egg and garlic, giving a juicy, faintly sweet crunch inside a crisp wrapper. They are eaten as a snack or light lunch with a thick garlic-palm sugar sauce, pickled cucumber, spring onion and chillies. Chicken can replace the prawns. Chef's tip: canned bamboo shoots must be boiled and drained first; skipping this leaves a sour, tinny smell through the whole roll.
- Total time
- 75 min
- Difficulty
- medium
- Serves
- 6
Ingredients
For the filling
- 10 ½ oz bamboo shootscanned or fresh, cut into thin matchsticks
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 4 cloves garlicfinely chopped
- 4 shallotsfinely chopped
- 5 ½ oz raw prawnspeeled, deveined and chopped
- 2 eggsbeaten
- 1 tsp sugar
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp ground white pepper
To roll and fry
- 12 spring roll wrappersabout 20 cm square, thawed
- 3 ¼ cups vegetable oilfor deep frying
For the sauce and to serve
- 3 cloves garliccrushed
- 1 ¾ oz palm sugargrated
- 1 cup water
- 1 tbsp cornflourmixed with 2 tbsp water
- 1 tsp rice vinegar
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 cucumber (optional)diced and tossed with a little vinegar and sugar
- 4 spring onions (optional)
- 6 bird's-eye chillies (optional)
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Method
0/9 doneStep 1: Boil 10 ½ oz bamboo shoots in plenty of water for 10 minutes, drain, rinse and squeeze dry. Repeat once if it still smells sharp.
12 minStep 2: Heat 2 tbsp vegetable oil in a wok over a medium-high heat and fry 4 cloves garlic and 4 shallots until golden and fragrant.
2 minStep 3: Add 5 ½ oz raw prawns and stir-fry until they turn pink and opaque all the way through.
2 minStep 4: Push everything to one side, pour in 2 eggs and scramble until just set, then mix through.
Step 5: Add the bamboo shoots, 1 tbsp kecap manis (sweet soy sauce), 1 tsp sugar, ½ tsp salt and ½ tsp ground white pepper and stir-fry until the pan is dry and the bamboo looks glossy. Spread on a tray to cool completely.
5 minStep 6: Lay one of the 12 spring roll wrappers on the board as a diamond, put 2 heaped tablespoons of filling near the bottom corner, fold up the corner, fold in the sides and roll tightly. Seal the tip with a dab of water. Make 12.
Step 7: For the sauce, simmer 3 cloves garlic, 1 ¾ oz palm sugar, 1 cup water, 1 tsp rice vinegar and ¼ tsp salt for 5 minutes, then stir in 1 tbsp cornflour and cook until thick and glossy.
6 minStep 8: Heat 3 ¼ cups vegetable oil to 350°F and fry the lumpia 3–4 at a time, turning, until deep golden and blistered.
4 minStep 9: Drain on a rack and serve hot with the sauce, 1 cucumber, 4 spring onions and 6 bird's-eye chillies.
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 330 kcal
- Protein
- 11 g
- Carbs
- 35 g
- Fat
- 16 g
- Fibre
- 2 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does lumpia Semarang take?
- About 75 minutes in total: 35 minutes to prepare and 40 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 6 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- What can I use instead of garlic?
- ½ tsp garlic paste or ⅛ tsp garlic powder per clove.
- What can I use instead of shallots?
- Half an onion per 2 shallots.
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