“Parents ask their kids if they want to cook with them and tell them to go peel a bag of potatoes. That’s not cooking – that’s working!” – Guy Fieri

This week’s recipe is…
Filipino Menudo with Pork Lumpia!

What’s orange, delicious, made of pork, and our recipe for the week? That’s right! It’s Filipino Menudo with Pork Lumpia! This week’s recipe is made from an assortment of delicious ingredients. The Menudo is made from vegetable oil, garlic, tomatoes, potatoes, carrots, green bell pepper, soy sauce, tomato sauce, onion powder, annatto powder, vegetable broth, salt, pepper, and garbanzo beans! The other part of the Filipino Menudo is the Lumpia, which is made from Lumpia wrappers, ground pork, carrots, sweet potatoes, green onions, bean sprouts, garlic powder, onion powder, soy sauce, hoisin sauce, ground black pepper, salt, veggie broth, and vegetable oil. Our Filipino Menudo recipe will serve 4. Now I bet you’re wondering, how do I put all these delicious ingredients together to make Filipino Menudo with Pork Lumpia? Check out all the specifics in our Braised Chicken with Squash and Mustard Greens Recipe. Alright, so we know what’s in our Menudo and we know how to make it, but who came up with this amazing dish? What’s the history behind it? How did it become so popular? These are great questions! Let’s figure it out!

HISTORY OF MENUDO!

Menudo, which some also call ginamay, is a traditional stew made in the Philippines cooked with pork and sliced liver in tomato sauce with carrots and potatoes (similar to our recipe, minus the liver!) There is also a Mexican dish with the same name but unlike the Mexican version, the Philipino dish does not include red chili sauce.

According to the Washington Post’s article, Sam’s II: Philippine Soul Food the dish is most commonly made with garlic, onions, tomato, pork, liver (pork or beef), diced potato, raisins, diced carrots, green bell peppers, soy sauce, vinegar or calamansi and tomato sauce, and seasoned with salt and pepper. What’s calamansi you ask?

Calamansi, also known as calamondin or Philippine lime is a citrus hybrid cultivated in the Philippines. It is used in many traditional Filipino cuisines.

Menudo is one of the most common dishes served in karinderyas, or small eateries that offer inexpensive meals to locals. It is also frequently served at potlucks or buffets because of the inexpensive ingredients that are used to make Menudo.

Alright so we learned about Menudo, but what about Lumpia? The term lumpia is from the Hokkien lunpia, which is an alternate word for popiah. Alright, so Lumpia has a bunch of different names, but what is it? Well, it’s essentially a spring roll. Spring rolls have been a popular snack in East Asia and Southeast Asia for centuries. And it is believed that spring rolls originated in China. Now, on to our favorite part… Fun Food Facts!

TRIVIA (FUN FOOD FACTS!)

Question: How did spring rolls get their name?

Answer: It’s believed that it was a seasonal food consumed during the Spring, which started as a pancake filled with the new season’s vegetables, which was a welcomed change from the preserved foods eaten during the long winter months.

Question: How did these spring rolls turn into Lumpia?

Answer: Chinese immigrants from the Fujian province of China brought the recipes to Indonesia and the Philippines when they settled, where they then became popular.

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We hope you enjoyed this week’s recipe as much as we did! Start the Fall right by signing up your child for a Cooking Class! And remember, “Cooking is one of the great gifts you can give to those you love” – Ina Garten

To see a list of our upcoming classes, click here!