We joined the Virginia Foods’ #DoTheCookingChallenge and presented our #VirginiaQuarantineRecipes entry starting off with this dynamite lumpia recipe.
I’ve always loved dynamite lumpia because it’s crunchy, crispy, a bit spicy, and tasty. I have been meaning to make it at home especially that we are staying at home because of this health crisis we are facing.
But as with many things in life these days, I was too lazy to do it.
Antoinette said we can try to make it using corned beef.
But if you know how to make lumpia, you will agree that the preparation itself takes a considerable amount of time. So I wasn’t up for it. Again, lazy Mommy.
Then came a message from the marketing team of Virginia Goods. Basically, they are sending Virginia products to us so we can join the cooking challenge.
Hooray!e
But… bad news! Unlike the other influencers/writers/bloggers, they are having a hard time sending my goodies where we live.
We live in the town of Liloan, 21 kilometers from Cebu City. With the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) in effect, it was a challenge for their delivery team to get the goods to me. Lalamove and Grab were the delivery options but nobody would accept the booking.
And so… I sent a message to our street’s group chat! I asked who among my neighbors work in Cebu City or Mandaue City, who can do me a favor. My neighbor, Dashi, who lives about six or seven houses away replied. She works in Mandaue, she said. She doesn’t go home everyday but she was willing to help me out!
I was so happy!
We exchanged details with the Virginia team and on the day that Dashi was scheduled to come home to Liloan, the goodies were sent to her office. The sardines, cheesedogs, hotdogs, NewYorkers, corned pork, corned beef, tocino, luncheon meat and everything you can imagine, finally reached our home by sunset.
Seeing the corned pork, Antoinette said, “Why don’t we make dynamite lumpia with these for the quarantine challenge?”
And so we did!
Prep time was long and I got very impatient when we made these because I got pepper burns. Why? Because I removed the seeds using my fingers/hands. Bad decision! But like what they say, “bad decisions make good stories.” But I will never do it again! (By the way, when you have hot pepper hands, try washing your hands with dish soap or rubbing alcohol. You can also try soaking your hands in milk or use baking soda. Olive oil works too!)
We made a video for “Inside Casa Ruffolo Cucina.” You can watch it here:
Check out the recipe below!
- 20 pieces sili espada (finger pepper) seeds removed
- 20 pieces lumpia wrapper
- 2 180g can Virginia corned pork
- 5 cloves garlic minced
- Make a slit from the stem down to the tip of chili peppers. Do this very carefully to ensure that you don't "break" the pepper and to keep the stem intact.
- Scrape the seeds. Best to use a teaspoon to do this or else you will have hot pepper hands.
- In a pan, add the minced garlic. Followed by Virginia corned pork. No need to season because the corned pork has enough saltiness and umami.
- Drain excess oil.
- Stuff the chili peppers with the corned beef mixture. Make sure not to overfill the peppers
- Separate the lumpia wrappers and place them on a flat surface. Place one stuffed pepper on a lumpia wrapper, making sure that the stem is exposed. Fold each side to secure. Gently roll to fully cover the stuffed pepper. Seal with a dab of water.
- In a pan, heat cooking oil. Add the wrapper peppers and fry for seven to 10 minutes or until golden brown.
- Remove from pan and drain on plate with paper towel.
- Serve with banana ketchup or with vinegar mixed with sugar, garlic and onion.
