In Search of That Elusive Thin Lumpia Wrapper…

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Early Saturday morning, I headed to the market with our host and several locals who joined us for the foray. There are two specialties from Bacolod that I have tried in vain to replicate over the years and a very thin lumpia wrapper is one of them. I wrote about this obsession here and while my mother used a more doughly almost pancake wrapper for her version of lumpiang ubod, here, I wanted a really thin version. I gave up on my quest a few months after I started it and decided I just had to find an expert to teach me instead. Our own lumpia is probably based on a Chinese dish, “popiah” that was indigenized in Bacolod a long way back… While I always assumed it was a batter based crepe like wrapper, it is in fact more like a cooked skin of a wet ball of dough wrapper… See this excellent photo here, link sent to me by Eric, a reader also obsessed with making the lumpia wrapper right.

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At the Burgos market in downtown Bacolod, we went to Tita MM’s suki ubod vendor, only to find 3 or 4 freshly cut ubod, straight from the source. The stuff was like SO FRESH they were just peeling the top of the coconut trunks. It turns out that they also sold the thin wrapper, that was made in commercial quantities in the home of the vendor. After some incredibly wonderful local and female persuasion, seen in the photo above, the Manong (I didn’t catch his name) graciously agreed to show us how they were made. We set an appointment for later that afternoon and due to unforseen circumstances, we DIDN’t make the appointment, so learning how to make the wrapper is reason enough for a second trip back down to Bacolod. What I am after is an incredibly thin, yet surprisingly resilient “skin” that just envelopes the tasty ubod filling, and which almost dissolves when it comes in contact with your tongue.

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When it was clear he was dealing with food lunatics, the Manong went into his stall and pulled out his freshest stack of wrappers, made less than 12 hours before. Of course we bought all of it, so we could experiment with a lumpia recipe later that afternoon. This was really good stuff, but I suspect making it minutes before you eat it is another level of quality all together.

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On closer inspection these wrappers were incredibly thin, and since fresh, pulled away from each other really easily. So near, and yet so far. I promise I will return to Bacolod to figure this out soon…

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Meanwhile, we bought some of that super fresh ubod and the ubod guy chopped it up faster than I could get out my food processor and plug it in. There is just something amazing about specializing in just one product… and in these parts, they eat a LOT of ubod and lumpia of all sorts.

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64 Responses

  1. I’m down reading this. I was looking forward to that immaculately visibly clear lumpia wrapper making process since your posting last night. I was waiting unabatedly till you dropped the bomb here. I, for one does not like the crepe like an eggy lumpia wrapper that we make. They still have an eggy taste to me regardless how well they are done. I prefer the ones they make in Bacolod with a good body strength that goes well with the lumpiang ubod. I will await for your return to Bacolod like General MacArthur said “I shall return” and liberate me from this lumpia wrapper syndrome.

  2. Years ago, I found a lumpia wrapper maker in Zapote market, Las Pinas City. He made the regular, thicker lumpia wrappers, but he also made super thin, eggy wrappers for lumpiang ubod, Ilonggo style. He did this by holding a ball of dough in his right hand and pressing it against a round, flat “pan” in a circular motion, letting it set and then peeling the wrapper off. Took him about 15 seconds. For the “special wrappers” the dough was enriched with eggs. I think he charged P200 for 100 pieces which wasn’t bad. I don’t know if he is still there but he’s probably not unique and there are others like him in other markets. I love Ilonggo lumpiang ubod; my mother was a real Ilonggo who taught me how to make it, also authentic bachoy and pancit molo.

  3. oh my, i wish you could post that soon, how to make a very thin lumpia wrapper. already looking forward to that post..

  4. Does anybody know how to make these lumpias from Bacolod/Iloilo? The ubod, ground meat, garlic and the sauce are all wrapped in a very thin wrapper. They are kinda small in size. If you are familiar with this lumpia you will know what I am talking about. It is not fried.

  5. Waahhhh! Lumpia wrapper has been my obsession. I cannot really make it thin enough and not too crepey. My mother-in-law is from Cebu and she makes this excelent wrapper but regret not to get her recipe before she passed on. Oh, well, MM when are you going back to Bacolod?

  6. This reminds me of Aling Mary in the Iligan mercado. When I was a kid, I used to tag along my aunt as she goes around the market buying ingredients. She’s a cook in the city hospital and is in-charge of buying produce. On weekends, I join her. When I get tired, she usually leaves me at Aling Mary’s stall. Aling Mary specializes in selling fresh ubod. I never got tired of watching her chop up those ubod thinly and superfast!

  7. My grandmother had written in an old notebook the recipe of the Ilongo style lumpia wrapper. It was just basically water and flour or cornstarch. I have to check which it was. The big difference is that there is no egg unlike the thick version made by everyone else.

  8. I spent my summers as a kid in Silay in my grnadparents’ house. In fact, my mom is there right now! Pls hurry with food recommendations so I can text her where to go ASAP :) haha, sorry to be demanding :)

  9. Hi everyone, if you read the post carefully, I DIDN’T get the lumpia wrapper tutorial this trip… will get it next trip. But essentially, it is a ball of dough that you press onto a hot kawali or plate and peel off the skin. It isn’t for the faint-hearted. If you do it daily it will be easy. If you make it 3 times a year, it will be a major task… You will have a post on the ubod filling soon, however. And yes, in some markets in Manila, I understand there is still a “Manong” that makes the wrappers right there and then… those would be our easiest and best alternative…

  10. Celina: thank you in advance for your efforts and generosity in sharing your Grandma’s lumpia wrapper recipe. MM, I know, I know practice, practice is the way to Carnegie Hall!! MM and Celina you brighten up my day! I know there is always light at the end of the tunnel!!!

  11. i’ve seen lumpia making twice now, once in joo chiat road (singapore) and once at the local palengke in mandaluyong – nakasuksok yung stall sa isang sulok sa kalentong, don’t know if they are still there.

    here is a chinese link for “popiah” recipe, if anyone knows chinese: https://www.wretch.cc/blog/cllinbaby/16642371 (paki translate for us please)

    here are 3 video links to show how they make them…
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vfz7od7bpos
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7j4yikywNyg&feature=related https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rSZqG6eQtcI&feature=related

  12. Mimi, thank you for those links, that’s what I mean by a blob of soft dough smashed onto a hot pan/plate with their bare hands, if I screw that up, I will burn my palm and finger prints off! :)

  13. Ok MM, When is your next trip to Bacolod? I’m sure you will have a bunch of us making a trip there too.

  14. Maria Clara and everyone:…YOU TUBE: Popiah SKIN (2 versions)!!!!As MM said. it looks relatively easy. It shows the consistency of the dough. If anyone has a roti skillet, I think it would be the best one to use for it looks close enough to the one on You Tube. If you are fortunate enough to own a commercial crepe maker…electric or gas, even better. I think that is the one they use. The guy has a ball of dough on one hand and a metal scraper on the other!

    And those here in Vancouver: A few years ago, I decided to go shop at TNT on 1st Ave. on my home. In the corner of the Chinese hot food section was lumpia wrappers wrapped in plastic to keep them from dryng out. I asked if it was previously frozen kind …they said it is freshly made. I bought 1 pack and they were the thin kind. I regretted not buying all of it! I don’t know if they still make it to this day, though. I haven’t been there for quite a while. The one in Coquitlam doesn’t carry the fresh made ones.

    MarisseWKaparis..to the kitchen!!!…hahahahahaha

  15. Kinda like making Indian breads… I did it in a hotel in Canada and had to press the soft (although more formed) dough onto the sides of a mega hot standing oven (looked like a barrel)on and on I did this for 2 hours straight and burned a lot of my arm hair in the process. heehee.

  16. oh i hope you can go back to Bacolod soon MM. but still looking forward to your post on the ubod filling : )

    Mimi, thanks also for the link. i didn’t know na ganun pala ginagawa yung lumpia wrapper. i think its a skill one develops through practice and patience. You are right MM, better be careful when you try this at home ; )

  17. mm, when you make a success of the lumpia wrapper, try wrapping a scoop of ice cream in a newly fresh made one. at the joo chiat road popiah place, photo linked by eric, they used to sell popiah ice cream which my son and i loved. it was just that, ice cream of choice wrapped in new skin. we tried ordering it again, but the owner said they stopped making the ice cream themselves, so no more popiah ice cream.

  18. Mimi: translation…it is in Mandarin not Cantonese…lucky , my neighbour is fluent in both! Anyway…the site said, she did quite few tries and was frustrated as well…her recipe:

    500 gm. wheat flour
    6 gm. salt
    400 gm. COLD water
    20 gm. oil

    Mix everything together and knead and let it sit.

    Wok or pan …not too hot or it will not stick to the pan or burn right away …ball of dough, rub on the surface…and pick it up.

    MM…here is another recipe I found in one of my Chinese cookbooks also written in Mandarin:

    6 cups wheat flour
    1 1/2 tsp. salt
    3 cups cold water

    Knead the dough until smooth and elastic. Cover with about 1/4 cup water on the surface. Let it rest for an hour. Then pick up the sides and slap it in the middle of the dough and keep on doing it until sticky, and elastic just like the one on the Chinese site. Then preheat grill. I think cast iron kawali works best rubbed lightly with an oil soaked cloth.

  19. BettyQ: Thanks for solving the puzzle. You hit it right in the head. After watching the You Tube video of the making process, I remain convicted and resolute just to stick to my frozen wrapper. I give up. I could make not it to Carnegie Hall even I practice day and night to do lumpia wrapping making demo. It is intimidating and will not explore that avenue again! One more big favor, I am asking you. Your expert analysis – the half moon cake – what is on top of it? Is that custard like yemas? Why it has a lot of shine? Did they cut them first and fill the topping or spread and fill the topping first and cut them? Thanks again for your help.

  20. I feel like chopping off one of those coconut tree in the east coast park here in singapore to get the ubod hehehehe….There is a shop at joo chiat who make a fresh lumpia (popiah) wrapper not the thin one though.

  21. Hay, Maria Clara…I, too, give up! I just did 1/3 batch and I think I will just stick to the crepe ones or just order the fresh made ones at TNT or have my fill of that Lumpia Ubod when I get the chance to go back home. Hey, how about we both go back home together…what do you say?

  22. waaaahhh! ok…please go back to Bacolod soon. but, seriously, I’d rather buy. I will be ecstatic to find somebody who sells those ultra thin lumpia wrapper near the BF Homes area or Las Pinas.

    I have been ordering Bacolod lumpia from Mrs. Bailon in that area near EDSA Pasay since the 80s. Her lumpia have made a lot of my family and friends, and office mates happy.

  23. Hey MC: …forgot about that Half Moon Cake…I really wish my sister can go to Bacolod to take back some of these goodies so I can deconstruct them…but she has no time to go gallivanting around the archipelago! I think she just returned to Manila from a quick trip to Cebu! From the picture…let me tell you first …for sure, the cake is a DIABETIC’S NIGHTMARE!!!…Secondly, I can see a film on top of the cake so it is likely, after baking the cake, the topping (more like a custard) is spread and probably returned to the oven for a few minutes to let it set. But if you must really have a half moon shaped cake with a custard topping…then I would suggest the LECHE FLAN CAKE baked in a round small pan like those disposable aluminum pans (I have seen those in small ones like 2 to 3 inch diameter)…cut in half and there is your half moon cake!

  24. Hi!

    My mom makes wonderful lumpia and one of the things that makes it taste great is the wrapper. Nothing but home made will do. While, it may be quite tedious to make, the taste is well worth it.

  25. betty_q: thanks for the recipe translation! it is amazing what just flour and water can be made into, the trick is knowing the technique…so my flour and water may just remain that and not popiah skins.

    there was a post on the half-moon cakes that the topping is YEMA, maybe some sort of yema-ish brazodemerced-ish filling just transformed into a topping? it sure looks super yummy, especially for me who is under-going sugar withdrawal symptoms, hay! tulo laway…

  26. Bettyq,I have to perfect the ubod filling first. I was looking at MM’s recipe and I’m dying to try it. Was so busy in the past but I have gone back to the kitchen this week. Made some choco chip muffins and your fudgey brownies. I made your cookies yesterday but I boo-booed. I forgot to place enough space and they spread and married each other…hahaha..but the smaller ones tasted like broas and were nice and crunchy. Will try them again this weekend but will place enough space in between. Thanks again…….

  27. Hi MM! I’ve been a lurker for years now since I don’t really have anything to contribute. I’m just a 22 year old medical student and an aspiring food enthusiast who likes to cook and eat. I really like your blog so much and I read it everyday, maybe when the time comes (when I have my own job, and my own money) I hope I’d be able to contribute something to this site. For now, I would just like to comment on that thin lumpia wrapper, I didn’t realize that it was a big deal, I am from Lucena (from Quezon province) and everytime we make lumpia (ubod, shanghai, gulay), we always use that lumpia wrapper, it can be easily found here I guess. Believe it or not, I’m so used to it not that I would like my lumpia wrapper to be the thick and crepe like variety.. haha..

    BTW, so that’s how an ubod looks like.. haha

  28. correction on my comment above..

    “I’m so used to it NOW, that I would like my lumpia wrapper to be the thick and crepe like variety..”

  29. I do have that crepe maker contraption from 15yrs ago as a xmas gift from my sis, it’s like a massager with an inverted cone (like mushroom) head and it is teflon. It makes good crepe but i didn’t have the lumpia wrapper recipe. Betty Q, i will try to see if your recipe might work with my contraption.

  30. I’ve already seen how the thin lumpia wrapper is made. It’s exactly how kakusina described it above.

  31. I saw a lumpia wrapper making machine years ago at the Zapote Kabila public market in Las Pinas, i’ll check it out this weekend. from what I remember it was a really large stainless steel plate, they just pour the batter on it and spread it out thinly with a stick.

  32. and I thought the fresh lumpia in Goldilocks here in California is good enough. If you find out how to make the wrapper let us know. One lumpia I also want to learn is the original chinese fresh lumpia in Binondo and Raon. Thanks again for your food pictures and blog. Makes eating my morning cereal easier to swallow.

  33. jun: the vietnamese lumpia uses round dried rice paper which are dipped in water to hydrate and become translucent/transparent white before using.

  34. We used to go to Chinatown in Binondo and there was this restaurant that makes the Lumpia Amoy-style. Does anyone know how to do it? I think the name of the restaurant was Amoy Restaurant it was near the arch going inside Chinatown near the Sta. Cruz church.

  35. My Ate back home will kill me now for I have asked her soooooo many times how to do that Chinese Lumpia you guys are talking about! She is the EXPERT on that one!!!!! I always tell her I have “senior moments” when I talk to her or the kids are just driving me nuts!

    Ariel and Divine G: I will call my Ate AGAIN just for you!!!!

    Jun, as Mimi said, Vietnamese wrapper…dipped in HOT or Warm water. Just for a few seconds. Lay one on a plate and do another. While you are doing another, the first one would have softened. Then proceed and add whatever filling you want. NO need to seal it if using for salad rolls. It will seal by itself. Find the THINNEST possible wrapper. Yes, it comes in THIN now. But you might need to use 2 wrappers though. If I use one, sometimes, it bursts! I ALWAYS make this salad rolls for hubby’s and boys’ late night snack!!!

    But I think, Jun, that the THIN Vietnamese wrapper will work just as good!

  36. Betty Q. I will be waiting for your ate’s response. I know you will be a great help. Thank you, thank you, thank you…

  37. Could you please post your recipe for lumpiang sariwa, Ilongo style? My mother-in-law taught me how to make the Chinese style one that takes forever to prep because everything was diced/minced sooooo small. Do you use a vinegar based sauce w it (sweet & sour) or just a plain sweetish, thickened soy-flavored sauce? Can you provide the recipe for that too.
    Here in NJ, there are a couple of Oriental stores that sell paper thin lumpia wrappers. I think they come from the Philippines, but it’s difficult to separate them because they’re not fresh at all, often times frozen. I don’t like the recipe that Flips here use, which is an eggy thin crepe-like batter. I like the rice-flour(?) ones best.

    Thanks for your blog/posts!

  38. betty_q: i am also awaiting your chinese-style lumpia filling. i have never attempted to make one because when in the philippines, i either buy from the small stall at shopwise libis – they put peanuts, fried vermicelli, black angel-hair (?) fungus, plus their sauce is – as my son puts is “suckalicious” because he eats the sauce on its own in the ice candy bags so i have to buy extra – and at the little store in little baguio, san juan. maybe kaunting lambing pa kay Ate…good luck and many thanks!

  39. Divine G. and Mimi: I have to bribe my Ate para hindi ako murahin…just kiddding! She is also very acccommodating when it comes to sharing recipes…Bahala na kayo in quantities:

    Tokwa…cut into tiny cubes. Knowing how tokwa is so watery, I would cut them first into slices or large chunks, then drain on several thicknesses of paper towels top and botttom. Let it sit like that for a few hours. If too wet still, change paper towels. Then cut or dice the tokwa in small pieces.

    Julienne…really really skinny! …baguio beans
    carrots
    singkamas
    repolyo

    Finely chopped onions

    So first, pan fry the tokwa in oil mixed with sesame oil. When done, remove and saute the onions until caramelized. Add the vegetables and season. She uses “GINISA MIX”? and a little water. then pepper and light soy. Then add the tokwa. Stir to combine every ow and then. When done, drain and save the stock.

    Garnishes:
    fry some sotanghon until puffed. Seta aside
    Cut seaweed into thin strips and mix with the sotanghon
    Dinikdik na peanuts roasted and add some sugar to taste
    Pound some peeled fresh garlic and thin with a bit of water
    Sweet chili sauce

    To assemble:
    Sprinkle some of the peanut/sugar mixture on the wrapper.
    Top with the seaweed/sotanghon mixture
    Gulay layer
    Hot/sauce and garlic mixture
    Fold and wrap. Oh, I forgot…she said to put wan suey (cilantro). I think I will give the wrapper a LIGHT SMEAR of hoisin. But that is just me!!!…OR mix hoisin and peanut butter thinned with a bit of water and smear that before adding the peanuts/sugar mix…

    Dipping thingey:
    The stock collected from the gulay. If not enough, then add water. Toyo, brown sugar. She adds oyster sauce to it. I think I will add a little peanut butter. Thicken with tapioca starch.

    Serve with that sauce and sweet chili sauce on the side.

    Nakaka gutom naman ito. Oh. my…I didn’t realize until now that this is meatless!

  40. BETTY_Q: maraming-maraming salamat sa chinese lumpia recipe! wow, never thought it was meatless, kasi the tokwa looks like ground meat. will experiment with quantities, but they look like all the same amount in the lumpia mix. i will try this in my slow cooker kasi that is what i see they use at the lumpia stall in shopwise libis. many, many thanks!

  41. Mimi: I can only guess that they need an appliance to keep it WARM (the filling). So I think they use a slow cooker to do that job.

    Yeah, I googled it to look at pictures and MM has a picture of it and I wondered …So I phoned her again and she said because the tokwa is really cut small and when you pan fry it it falls apart. So I told her about the DRAINING the tokwa on PAPER TOWEL trick so the tokwa will hold its shape better. She thought her little sister knows nothing!!!!!! Oh, I have been waiting for this day to hear her say that!…hahahaha

  42. Betty Q. thank you. This is it, this is the one I was talking about. Many thanks. I will go to Chinatown tomorrow and buy the ingredients. Lucky me, all these are available in the market in our part of the States.

  43. Oh tell Ate I did not forget her , thank you, too. About the seaweed can I use the nori the one used in wrapping sushi? If not, what kind of seaweed is it? It is okay for it to be meatless because it is the Lenten season anyway.

  44. Yup, Divine G! I had to ask her about that too kasi I thought she meant wakame…so she said the NORI (SUSHI WRAPPER). If you don’t want it to be meatless, I think adding this “pork floss” will be good as one of the garnishes too…It looks like cotton candy…if you are going to an Asian store, it will be by the aisle with the pork or beef jerky.

    Mimi: I know MIL adds what I call “Black Hair” in one of the soups she makes for us on Chinese New Year. Is that the one you are referring to? When cooked, it has the texture of something slimy and looks lke hair.

  45. betty_q: yes, that is the one! it is dry though when they put it in the lumpia, if i am not mistaken the black hair is mixed with the sugar…the lumpia filling is separate, then there are bowls for the sugar/black hair, peanuts, garlic, chilli, and lettuce leaves. the assembly is done when ordered kasi the lumpia wrapper does get soggy and disintegrates when you do not eat at once.

  46. As a lover of fresh lumpia, I went ahead and tried MM’S recipe for the wrapper. Didn’t change any of the ingredients, but used the following technique instead. After pouring a small amount of the batter (about 3 tbsps or more) into the warmed non-stick pan, I used a 3″ paintbrush,lightly painting the pan in a circular motion and came up with a thin, perfectly shaped wrapper, NIRVANA! Thanks, MM.

    SILLY LOLO’s SISTER

  47. Silly Lolo’s sister, may I and other readers please enquire where silly lolo is now and if his health is good? We have missed his comments and he has not visited for several months and readers have been emailing me to try and find out but he has not responded to emails I have sent to his old email address. Please, if you are truly his sister, kindly update us if you can. Regards, MM

  48. Dear MM,
    Silly Lolo is fine, thank you. They just moved from San Francisco to San Mateo and getting settled right now. I am sure you will be hearing from him soon, I will call him right now and you’re right, you probably have his old e-mail address, perhaps his computer is not connected yet. Don’t worry, I’ll nag him.
    SILLY LOLO’S SISTER

  49. Silly Lolo’s Sister: I am soooooooo happy he is fine! Please ask him to send me an e-mail too. He has it! But if he has “senior moments” too like me, please send him my e-mail too, MM!

    Silly Lolo: The red chinooks will be making their way soon in the next few months. Time to tune-up those smokers so I can send you the recipe of the Indian Candy!!!!

  50. BettyQ and your Sister: Thanks a million for sharing the lumpia recipe. As usual sounds delisioso! Like much your idea that we travel together sure will be a lot of fun and lots of yapping there and there. I have to defer on this idea as I do not want to ruin your vacation plans. I have severe orthopedic problems and I feel it gets worse as the day goes by without any notice. Where do you get your ubod for your lumpiang ubod? Thanks again.

  51. MC: I bought it at the Pinoy store here. I think every Wed. they have fresh gulay like gabi leaves, saluyot,etc. My guess, it comes from Hawaii. There was only 1 store who still had fresh Ubod. i didn’t mind paying $6.00 for a small piece (enough for about 6 people) since the quality is way better than the frozen ones.

    I HOPE YOU’LL FEEL BETTER…don’t you just wish it is as easy as squirting WD40 on our joints?

  52. BettyQ: Thanks again. I wish I can find a magic wand that will help with my knee problems. Lucky you for having access to fresh ubod. We do not have any here. The canned ones are not good in lumpia, they are great in salad.

  53. this is a really cool site and I am so happy someone contemplated making handmade lumpia, my first try was a disaster. I actually tried to make what is known as warka (ouarka) in Morocco which seems very similar to lumpia. It is also made by making a wet dough and dabbing a hot pan with it to make a shear crepe. How do you think this technique found its way to Morocco? Perhaps they invented it separately.
    Did you go back for a lesson?

  54. I came across a recipe for lumpia wrapper which is not the “crepey” type. It is very simple. I’ve tried it and found it acceptable:

    Cornstarch to water proportion = 1:1
    1 c all purpose flour
    1 c water

    Stir cornstarch and water in a bowl. Spray a skillet (15-inch diameter) with a thin layer of spray cooking oil. Another option would be to use a basting brush to thinly grease the pan. Using another basting brush, evenly brush a thin layer of the cornstarch mixture over the pan. Set the pan over low heat. Gently lift the wrapper when the edges start to curl. It is easier to take out the wrapper when you use a non-stick/teflon pan. Make sure to stir the cornstarch-water mixture before applying as the cornstarch tends to settle at the bottom of the mixing bowl.

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