Monday, December 5, 2011

Yamolumpia (aka Lumpimoto)

Beast from the weast DJ Pandabomb serves up some lumpia



I was kicking it with my man DJ Pandabomb today and we were trying to decide what to make for dinner. We had lumpia wraps, some beef, potatoes, and onions. Pandabomb decided that the only viable course of action was to make a kind of Asian corn beef hash and roll it up into a generous pile of yamolumpia.



Here's what you need to make it happen:

DJ Pandabomb's Yamolumpia
About 20 min prep, 10 min cooking. Makes ~10 lumpia

--Lumpia--
1 lb beef chopped - should be thin-sliced medallions of sirloin (i.e. beef for bulgogi)
1/2 lb small potatoes
1/2 medium onion
2-3 green onions
1 qt + 3 tbsp vegetable or canola oil.
10-12 lumpia wraps

--Sauce--
1/4 cup white vinegar
2 cloves fresh garlic, crushed/pressed and chunked.

Filling
First, wash and boil potatoes for about 5 minutes. Strain and cut potatoes into small chunks. Chop onions and mix with chopped potatoes. Heat about 3 tbsp oil over medium high heat in a skillet or frying pan. Cook beef until it's about half cooked (half red, half gray/brown), then add potato/onion mix. Cook until beef is almost cooked enough and/or onions become translucent. Remove filling from heat to a bowl.

Lumpia
Separate off a lumpia wrap (if it's too dry to work with you can make it more pliable by selectively wetting it with a drip-dry paper towel) and lay it in front of you. Spoon a little less than a 1/4 cup of filling mix onto the wrap near one end, and roll up the lumpia as shown in the diagram below:
Simple
With your lumpia wrapped, stacked, and looking like the tasty specimens in the first picture, it's time to get cooking. Heat a quart or so of oil in a deep pan to about 325-350°F. The amount of oil will vary with the size of your pan, so adjust as needed. 

DJ Pandabomb using the antimatter plasma stove

Basically you want an inch or two of oil depth, and you want to make sure the pan is less than half full. However much oil it takes to hit that sweet spot, use that. Fry lumpia until golden brown and lay them down on a paper towel to soak up the extra oil.


Sauce
The sauce for these lumpia is unbelievably easy to make, but do not underestimate its importance. A dunk in this tangy condiment is all you need to take these lumpia to the next level. Are you ready for the instructions? Alright here they are: combine vinegar and crushed garlic in a bowl. Serve.



Mmmm... crispy.

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Thanksgiving Pornography

Pre-Thanksgiving Edition


For those of you expecting to see a bunch of pilgrims getting weird, I sincerely apologize. Instead you will find a series of photos I wanted to revisit just to put some of that unrivaled Thanksgiving fare in the back of my mind before I have to actually start thinking about this year's menu. We'll start with pie...



Pumpkin pie - classic

Turkey stuffed with apples, and smothered in sage-pancetta butter

Roasted red potatoes with rosemary

The Spread

The Plate

The Day After


Aaaaand now I'm hungry. Works every time.

I'm Still Cooking

You just haven't heard about it.

Blackberry Pie - recipe here.


...bitches*.




*Yes, that ruler in the background was used to ensure my pastry strips for the top crust were all about the same size. This was only my second lattice top crust ever. Give me some slack.