Lumpiang Togue is a popular Filipino dish with a unique flavor. It’s a delicious spring roll filled with fresh mung bean sprouts and a mix of vegetables, wrapped in lumpia wrappers and fried to a crispy perfection. This dish is perfect as an appetizer at home or for gatherings and special occasions like birthdays or fiestas.
Lumpiang Togue is easy to make and incredibly satisfying.I learned to make this dish when I was a Grade 10 student. We had a cooking activity as a group project, which was to be submitted as a video. However, because of the pandemic, my parents decided that I should do it individually. I prepared it at home, with my mother as the videographer. She filmed me while I was cooking.
I learned and understood all the recipes for making Lumpiang Togue and sought advice from my mother on how to improve it. To be honest, I’m not very fond of cooking, but my mother is. I know how to cook simple dishes and usually help my mother with ingredient preparation or slicing, but I never watched her cook.
It was challenging for me to cook on my own for the first time, especially with a camera filming me, which made me nervous. A small mistake could not be corrected, particularly if it involved ingredients added at the wrong time.
So I was very cautious with each step and asked my mother to pause the video to prepare for the next process.
Now that I’ve learned it, I decided to cook Lumpiang Togue again. I bought all the necessary ingredients and started by growing mung bean sprouts.
First, I rinsed and removed any damaged or broken mung beans, then soaked them for about 5 hours. I placed two towels on a mesh screen food cover, covered it with a white cloth, and kept it in a dark place.
I used this because we didn’t have a large container, and I preferred it over bottles to ensure better sprouting.
The next morning, I was surprised to see how quickly they had sprouted. I rinsed and sprinkled them with water, covering them again. I did this twice a day.
In the evening,just how fast it grows. I decided to harvest them and cook them the next day. They grew perfectly, and I felt it was enough for making Togue.
Early the next morning, I prepared all the ingredients. I rinsed the mung bean sprouts and set them aside. Without a camera around, I could cook freely without feeling nervous.
Aside from mung bean sprouts, I used soy sauce, onions, spring onions, garlic, pepper, carrots, and wrappers. I didn’t add meat to keep it simple and more cost-effective.
I stir-fried the onions, garlic, and spring onions until they were browned, then added the carrots.
When the carrots were cooked,I added the mung bean sprouts and mixed everything. I left it for a few minutes, then mixed it again.
This is what it looked like when it was cooked. By the way, I used only half of the mung beans, and it was already a lot. I wondered if I should use all of it for Togue.
I let it cool for a few minutes.When it was cold, I started wrapping it. I placed an adequate amount of the cooked mung bean sprouts into the wrapper and rolled it up.
I made about 50 pieces of Lumpiang Togue, cooking only half because we couldn’t eat them all.
This is the final output a crispy and delicious Lumpiang Togue, perfect for family bonding. I’m very satisfied with my cooking because I noticed an improvement. This batch turned out much better than the first one I made. It was worth it!