One of the Filipino foodstuffs that I will never refuse to eat when served is Lumpia Ubod, especially the fresh variety (as opposed to fried). Roughly translated: spring rolls. Lumpia = our version of the roll. Ubod = heart of palm (coconut) or bamboo shoots. Yum!!
So, here’s a recipe I got from a friend for Lumpia Ubod (fresh). There are three sets of ingredients: for the filling, for the wrapper, and for the sauce / dip. This recipe will let you make 40 pieces.

The Lumpia Wrappers
- 5 eggs, well beaten
- 250 g all-purpose flour
- 125 g cornstarch
- 1.4 lt water
- fresh lettuce
Dissolve the flour and cornstarch in water and mix well with the eggs.
Lightly grease a crepe pan and preheat. Deposit just enough batter to form a thin layer. Cook until no longer moist on top. Repeat until all the batter is used up.
Cool and refrigerate, tightly wrapped, until ready for use.
The Sauce
- 1 pc garlic bulb
- 1 tbsp cooking oil
- 1 tbsp cornstarch
- 2 oz soy sauce
- 12 oz stock
- 2 1/2 oz brown sugar
Separate the garlic bulb into cloves and completely remove the skin. Pound lightly and, if you like it how I do, slice into smaller pieces. Heat the oil and fry the garlic until golden. Remove the garlic.
Combine the remaining ingredients and pour into the hot oil, stirring constantly until the plot–err–mixture thickens. When serving, top the sauce with the fried garlic.
The Filling
- 500 g pork, cut thinly
- 250 g fresh shrimp, whole
- 500 g bamboo shoots
- 1 tsp sugar
- salt to taste
- oil for sautéing
Boil the pork until tender. (Some people, by the way, prefer the pork ground up instead.) While that’s happening, remove the shrimp shells and squeeze to extract the juice. Devein the shrimps. Julienne the bamboo shoots.
Briefly sauté the shrimp and pork in a little oil. Then, add the shrimp juice and bring to a boil. Add the bamboo shoots and let simmer over low heat until tender. Add the sugar and salt, and cook for a minute more.
Cool, then wrap the filling in lumpia wrappers and lettuce; the lettuce is supposed to be sticking out of one end of the roll, for a pleasing visual effect. Serve with the sauce in a separate serving dish. If you want to be traditional about it, wrap each fresh lumpia in wax paper.
Have fun with the recipe!









Hi Blogie – Gusto ko ug lumpiang ubod, pero gusto kaayo ko ug piniritang lumpiang ubod. Lami kaayo.
Nagluto si Feyma ug ubod nga sabaw, lami pud. Magadto ka ba sa among balay ug magkaon ka ug ubod nga sabaw?
@Mindanao Bob — Hey, you’re Bisaya sure has improved a lot! Siempre moadto ko sa inyoha kay lami kaayo magluto si Feyma.
Sige, Blogie. Tua sa GenSan si Feyma karon semana. Pero, magtext ko sa amo unya, di ba?
(I think that last sentence is messed up… I don’t really know how to say “I’ll text you when she is back” yet.)
Bob, I think that should be “Mag-text ko sa imo unya ha?” “Di ba” sounds like we had a prior arrangement and you’re confirming it.
Sayang, dili ko pwede unya kay naa man gud koy adtoan nga party karong gabii.
Hi Blogie – Ha ha… OK, thanks…. What I was trying to say is that when Feyma is back from GenSan, I’ll text you and we’ll get together. It’s been a while since Feyma made Ubud soup, so I’m looking forward to it too!
When I said “unya” I meant later, but not really today, because Feyma is out of town!
Hmmm… I might be wrong, but “unya” to me has always meant “later in the day”. In my experience, when you want to say “at another time (but not necessarily today)”, you’d say “sa sunod”.
Hi Blogie – I am sure you are right about that. I never heard, though, that sunod would be used that way, I’ll have to get some clarification from my teacher next week. Remember – I’m still learning! What I have been taught is that sunod is “to follow” and I just didn’t associate it with that kind of use.
Thanks for the pointer.
Yeah, “sunod” means “follow”, but it also means “next”. Lemme know what your teacher says, ok?
In Tagalog, you also say “sa susunod (na lang)” to mean “later” or “next time”. But don’t let me confuse you.
hmmm… yummy blogie! mouth watering!!
@iceman9 — It sure is!
i use coconut heart (ubod) instead of bamboo shoots.
@oni — Is coconut heart better than bamboo shoots, taste-wise? Thanks for visiting my blog!
Blogie
we don’t have fresh palm of heart in our place to use for my fresh lumpia. can i use the ones in cans for its substitute? can i also add beans sprout, carrots and cabbage in my fresh lumpia? daghan salamat.
@Jean — Yeah, the canned ones are OK to use, I suppose. Bean sprouts in the fresh lumpia? Hmmm… Baka magtubig eh, tsaka I’ve never seen that before. Pero why not, try mo lang gud.
Thanks for reading my blog!
Please, may have some clarifications:
a) what do you mean by “1 ea bamboo shoots” puwede
please convert in some other terms of measurement?
b) same please with “1 ea garlic bulb” – which I guess
will depend really on the amount of “ubod” (I prefer
this to bamboo shoots) one will be using
and please, please assure me that the lumpia wrapper is as thin as it looks in the picture.
Many thanks!
Hello Des! Sorry about the confusion — I’ve corrected the recipe already.
The lumpia wrapper will be as thin as it looks in the photo depending on how you cook it. You’ll have to spread the mix over the frying pan as evenly and as thinly as you can.
I love it!
Just need clarification:
For making the wrapper, How much water is it? 1.4 liter of water?
Yes, that’s 1.4 liters.
Thanks! Blogie! I will definitely give it a try! I’m from Bulacan and our Lumpiang sariwa is similar to this…Happy New year!
magkno kya ang magagastos..?