Lumpia Palooza for lumpia lovers

MY MOM made the best lumpia -- ever. 

Ever since she passed away, I've been searching high and low for a lumpia that could match her combination of ingredients and super-thin rice flour wrapper. The ingredients of shrimp, ground pork, carrots, bean sprouts, chopped water chestnuts onions and garlic lifted it above the lumpia or spring rolls usually served in restaurants. They were already cooked and allowed to cool before placing them in the thin wrappers that she made on her stove.

Even though health advocates would frown at the frying aspect of the wrapper, the lumpia made in my mom's kitchen was light, airy without losing the savory umami The fact that the ingredients were already cooked and allowed to cool before placing a spoonful or two into the home-made wrappers, cut down on the oil. The wrapped lumpia only needed to be browned to a crispy, flaky delight before being ready to eat. It doesn’t need to absorb that oil.

For you newbies, lumpia is the Filipino version of the spring rolls often served in Asian  restaurants. You can go to your Asian grocery and buy frozen packages of lumpia with ground pork, beef, shrimp, vegetarian or a combination of those ingredients. 

But, they don't hold a candle to my   mom's lumpia, with its mix of pork, shrimp and carrots and water chestnuts providing an unexpected crunch.

It warms my heart -- like that dumpling-making scene from the movie Crazy Rich Asians --that my daughters' memories of their grandma includes helping place the ingredients in the lumpia and rolling them up in preparation for cooking for an after-school snack.

So my search for the perfect lumpia continues. Maybe it can be found Saturday. All kinds of lumpia -- with a variety of dipping sauces -- will be offered in the third annual Lumpia Palooza, that will be held in San Francisco Saturday, Oct. 27.

With the popularity of the food truck scene, more non-Filipinos have "discovered" lumpia and Filipino cuisine from popular trucks like Senor Sigsig, The Jeepney Guy, The Sarap Shop or Jeepsilog.

At the Lumpia Palooza, there will be other dishes offered also, like chicken afritada, kare kare, serrano and many more specialities -- all washed down with some San Mig. But the star of the event will be the crispy, flaky, buttery, deliciously-stuffed, and perfectly-golden LUMPIA!

The event, in conjunction with Filipino American History Month -- will be held 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. at the SoMa StEat Food Park, 428 11th Street in the heart of the Filipino Heritage District, South of Market, San Francisco.

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