Lumpiang Shanghai is the staple Filipino version of spring rolls. Always seen at parties, and often eaten as an appetizer, you'd be hard-pressed to find someone familiar with Filipino cuisine who hasn't experienced the taste of lumpiang shanghai.
This style of lumpia is typically made with giniling (ground pork) and egg-based spring roll wrappers. With this ingredient profile, it might seem like a dish that you'll need to avoid if you adopt a vegan lifestyle. But don't worry! With the power of vegan replacements, you too can indulge in this tasty Filipino appetizer, and maybe even encourage your friends & family to eat in a more sustainable way.
This dish is usually prepared by deep-frying the spring rolls. But deep-frying causes the lumpia to absorb a lot of oil which adds a lot of calories. This can lead to unexpected weight gain if you're not careful. By baking it (as we do in this recipe), we can reduce the amount of oil that we use. This makes it a healthier option without getting rid of the crunchy & delicious texture.
Ingredient Highlights
- Water Chestnuts: These are an Asian vegetable which add a nice crunch to the lumpiang shanghai. They are also quite nutritious (being plentiful in antioxidants) and low in calories!
- Carrots, Yellow Onions, Green Onions: While ground "meat" and the wrapper are the minimum you really need to make lumpiang shanghai, adding this plethora of vegetables & legumes help make this dish a healthier option.
- Vegan Ground Meat: In order to mimic the taste & texture of the ground pork, find a vegan meat substitute that you like! Most commercial grocery stores these days will have some options available. If you live in Canada and want a recommendation, I personally use Gusta Original Veggie Ground in this recipe.
- Cornstarch paste: Eggs (particularly the egg whites) are usually used in this dish to seal the wrapper. In order to avoid using any animal products, we'll use a cornstarch paste made of equal parts cornstarch and water. This is quite sticky, which helps with sealing the seam of the lumpia.
How to Make Vegan Lumpiang Shanghai
Start by prepping the cornstarch paste which will help us later when wrapping the lumpia. Combine 1 tablespoon of cornstarch with 1 tablespoons of water in a small bowl. Let it sit for 5 minutes or longer.
If they aren't small enough already, chop up the vegetables (carrots, yellow onion, green onion, water chestnuts) into pieces that you can fit into a food processor. Place them in the food processor and mix until well-combined.
Place them into a mixing bowl and combine evenly with the vegan ground meat, black pepper, and salt.
At this point, you can start preheating the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.
Now you'll want to start wrapping and preparing the rolls for the oven. Wrap 1 tablespoon of the ground mixture with the wrap (you can also use a small cookie scoop here). Use the cornstarch paste to seal the seam. Keep repeating this process until you've made the desired number of rolls. Use another baking tray if you run out of space on one.
Take each roll and brush the outer layer with canola oil, placing onto the baking tray again after each one.
Place the baking tray(s) into the oven for 15 minutes. Then flip each roll and continue baking for another 10 minutes. Take it out, let it cool for 15 minutes, and enjoy with your favorite dipping sauce! I personally love having these with plum sauce.
Tips
- Listen to something while wrapping the lumpia. Wrapping each lumpia roll can get boring fast as it's the same process over and over again. I recommend playing some good music or putting on a podcast while doing this step.
- Experiment. You can get versatile with the vegetables you use for this dish. Carrots, yellow onions, green onions, and water chestnuts are just what I prefer. Feel free to add your favorite vegetables when you mix them in the food processor or remove some of the ones I've suggested!
- Don't overfill the lumpia! Overfilling the lumpia is one of the main reasons they burst in the oven. Minimize the risk of the wrapper breaking by not adding too much filling.
- Have extra wrappers on hand. While this recipe makes 25 lumpia rolls, you might want have more than 25 spring roll wrappers on hand. When you're trying to separate them from each other, they can tear if you're not careful. I'll sometimes buy a pack of 50 wrappers in case some of them get destroyed during handling or in case I have extra lumpia filling to make more.
Other Recommended Recipes
- If you want to get a party going, bring this recipe together with the Vegan Filipino Spaghetti. You'd be hard-pressed to find a Filipino party without these two staples!
Vegan Baked Lumpiang Shanghai
Equipment
- Silicone Baking Sheet (may need more than 1 if your baking tray doesn't fit all the rolls), can also use parchment paper
- Baking Tray (may need more than 1 if your baking tray doesn't fit all the rolls)
- Mixing Bowl medium to large-sized
- Basting Brush
Ingredients
- 25 vegan spring roll wrappers (6" x 6") thawed
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1 tablespoon water
- 250 g carrots chopped, about 1 large carrot
- 1 yellow onion chopped
- 3 stalks green onion
- 1 can (142g drained / 218ml) water chestnuts
- 300 g vegan ground meat
- 1 teaspoon black pepper ground
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ cup canola oil
- plum sauce
Instructions
- Prepare cornstarch paste by combining cornstarch with water in a small bowl and mixing well.
- Mix the vegetables (carrots, yellow onion, green onion, water chestnuts) in a food processor until well-combined.
- In the large bowl, create the filling by combining the minced vegetables, salt, black pepper, and vegan ground meat until evenly distributed.
- Preheat the oven to 425℉
- Place 1 heaping tablespoon of the filling onto a spring roll wrapper, wrap it, then seal with the cornstarch paste. You can use a small cookie scoop to help with getting the filling. Place on baking tray after wrapping.
- Repeat the previous step for as many pieces of lumpia as desired.
- For each lumpia roll, brush the outer layer with canola oil and place back onto the baking tray.
- Place baking tray with lumpia into oven for 15 minutes. Then flip each roll and continue baking for another 15 minutes.
- Let cool for 15 minutes and enjoy! Best enjoyed with the dipping sauce of your choice (e.g. plum sauce)
Notes
- Wrapping each roll can get repetitive fast. Once you get to step 5, it helps to put on some good music or listen to a podcast until you're done wrapping all the rolls.
- The brand of spring roll wrapper I use is TYJ Spring Roll Pastry
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