Crunchy Homemade Mini Lumpia

Easy to grab, finger food, these crunchy chicken-filled mini lumpias are perfect for gathering, appetizer or just as snacks. What is a lumpia, you might wonder. Lumpia is what the Filipino and Indonesian called for spring rolls or egg rolls. You can customize the filling inside each lumpia. For the recipe below, I am using a combination of chicken, rice vermicelli, carrot, and green onion as the filling. Also, to save time – rather than making the lumpia wrappers from scratch, I am using wonton wraps. So, for the fillings, feel free to put any other fillings that you like.

If you want to make these crunchy mini lumpia ahead of your gatherings/party, you can freeze the rolled-but-unfried mini lumpias into Ziplock bag, put into the freezer, and they are good for up to a month. Then, fry the mini lumpias whenever you want to use them – no need to thaw them first. Also, these crunchy mini lumpias are best when they are still warm and crispy. You can also pair it with your favorite condiments – ketchup, mayo sriracha, Thai sweet chili sauce and so on. Yum~

Tool I used:

• Air Fryer – Compact so it won’t take up much of your counter space, very durable and versatile as it can air-fry, broil, toast and so on.
• Nonstick skillet – Versatile sauté or frying pan that’s compatible to any cooktops including your induction stove.

Tip: To reduce the extra oil that comes with air-frying, placing an air-fryer basket liner will solve the problem because the liners absorb the excess oil. Also, for an extra crunch, spray some olive oil on top and bottom of the food. 

Ingredient:

• 1 pack square wonton wrap
• 100 gr thin rice vermicelli
• ½ lb. chicken breast – cut into small pieces
• ½ cup shredded carrot
• 1 stalk green onion – thinly sliced
• 2 cloves garlic – minced
• 1 medium-sized shallot – thinly sliced
• ½ inch ginger – thinly sliced
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 tablespoons oyster sauce
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon sweet soy sauce
• Salt and white pepper to taste

Direction:

• Let’s blanch the thin rice vermicelli by first boiling 2-3 cups of water in a deep pot. Once the water is hot, turn off the heat and submerge the thin rice vermicelli for about 30 seconds to a minute. Then, drain the excess hot water.
• Afterwards, placed the blanched rice vermicelli into a bowl of cool water. Set aside.
• Pre-heat the olive oil under a low-medium heat in a wok.
• Once heated, add garlic, shallot, ginger and stir until it is fragrant.
• Then, add chicken, carrot, oyster sauce, soy sauce, sweet soy sauce, salt and white pepper. Give it a good stir and let it cook until the chicken is done or cook for about 1-2 minutes.
• In the meantime, drain the excess water from the thin rice vermicelli. Squeeze out the excess water if need to.
• Add the drained rice vermicelli into the wok. Turn up the heat into medium-high heat. Give it a good mix – keep stirring as you do not want it to burn. As you stir, let it cook for about a minute or so – don’t cook it for too long, just cook until the rice vermicelli turns into brownish color, then it’s done.
• Taste it and adjust the seasonings – salt & pepper – according to your liking.
• Turn off the heat and transfer to a serving plate. Garnish with the sliced green onion.
• Let’s assemble the mini lumpia. Prepare a small bowl of room-temperature water. Grab a piece of wonton wrap. Scoop a spoonful of the cooked rice vermicelli and place it in the middle of the wrap.
• Fold from the top and bottom covering the rice vermicelli. By now, you have some sort of small roll. Brush some water to both sides. Then, close the two sides, by sticking the wet sides and folding them up from two sides to seal the rice vermicelli. Repeat until all the fillings are gone.
• Pre-heat the air-fryer to 400F. Prepare the air fryer basket lines and spray some olive oil to the liners.
• Place each mini lumpia in a single layer into the liners.  Don’t overcrowd the liners. Spray a bit more olive oil on top of the mini lumpias so that it will be crispy. Cook for 4 minutes.
• Afterwards, flip each mini lumpias and cook again for another 4 minutes.
• Transfer to a serving plate, let it cool down a bit, and enjoy with your favorite condiment – ketchup, mayo-sriracha, Thai sweet chili sauce, and so on!