Lumpiang Shanghai Review

When I was a kid, I remember how my Mom prepares lumpiang shanghai exclusively for special occasions, but not anymore. This food that was once a part of a regal lineup of cuisine during festivities is now a common commodity on food carts. Where else can I find such insane variety of fried food? It’s in Blumentrit. 

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See the similarity of the filling

Lumpiang shanghai bought at P.Florentino St. corner Blumentrit

 

Fried siomai bought at the same store at P.Florentino St. corner Blumentrit

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The lumpiang shanghai that I bought at Blumentrit corner P.Florentino St. is below average for my taste. Here’s why. The meat and vegetable filling is starchy and the meat is overly minced or grounded into almost mush. I can barely taste the meat or vegetable. The owner of the food cart is really cunning when it comes to food presentation. He used the same filling of a fried siomai that I reviewed earlier. Customers that eats at this place is fooled by thinking they are eating an authentic lumpiang shanghai, where in fact, they're eating a siomai filling wrapped in a lumpia wrapper (see the pictures above). That's what you get when you don't "play" with your food before you eat it. They should have renamed the food into "lumpiang siomai" or "siomai na lumpia". Either ways, it's a totally bad idea and preparation.

 

Lumpiang Shanghai bought at España-Blumentrit

I really can't complain. Street food will always be a street food. The lumpiang shanghai sold along España Blvd corner Blumentrit fared pretty well with the taste and texture of the meat but not on the volume of filling inside the wrapper. Minced vegetable is quite visible and easily identified while eating. I tasted no trace of meat extenders. The  meat filling indicates that it was cooked with soy sauce. I set aside a piece for later eating but when I returned back to eat it, the once fresh cooked pork meat tasted quite sharp and sour. I have no exact words to describe it but I'm pretty sure that it's not spoiled. The taste is somewhat pretty close to aged meat. That's the closest description I can imagine.