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Lumpiang Shanghai (Filipino Pork Spring Rolls)
Pencil-thin spring rolls of seasoned ground pork, carrot, onion and garlic, deep-fried until they shatter and served hot with sweet chili sauce or banana ketchup.
Filipino · medium · serves 6
prep 45 min · cook 20 min
~470 cal · 28g protein · 30g carbs · 26g fat · 3g fiber · 6g sugars · 6g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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Lumpiang Shanghai is the lumpia that appears at every Filipino party. Birthdays, fiestas, Christmas and New Year all bring out a platter of these thin, crackling rolls, and there is rarely one left at the end of the night. They are the most basic of the Philippines' many lumpia, and the smallest and thinnest.
The name lumpia comes from Hokkien, and the dish belongs to the long Chinese-Filipino tradition of cooking in the islands. The filling is raw ground pork mixed with finely chopped carrot, onion and garlic, bound with an egg and seasoned with soy sauce, salt and pepper, rolled as tight as a pencil in paper-thin wrappers and sealed with water or egg.
They are fried in hot oil until the wrapper blisters and turns deep gold, cut into short lengths and eaten with a sweet chili dip or banana ketchup. Families roll them by the hundred for a celebration, and freeze them to fry straight from the freezer.
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Make it yours
✓ Naturally dairy- and nut-free. No swaps needed.
Toggle a diet and the ingredients rewrite themselves with regional substitutes.
🥕 Vegetarian
🌱 Vegan
🌾 Gluten-Free
🥛 Dairy-Free
🥜 Nut-Free
🥚 Egg-Free
🐖 Pork-Free
Dietary labels are a cooking guide, not allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish; we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, read the label on every product you use, and note that a kitchen can cross-contaminate in ways a recipe cannot control.
Ingredients
US
Metric
Serves 6
- 500 g ground pork
- 1 large carrot, very finely chopped
- 1 onion, very finely chopped
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 3 (about 45 g) spring onions, finely chopped
- 1 egg
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 250 g lumpia (spring roll) wrappers, thawed, about 30 small sheets
- 2 tbsp water (to seal)
- 1 l , for deep-frying
- 1/2 cup sweet chili sauce or banana ketchup, to serve
Instructions
- 1Mix the pork, carrot, onion, garlic, spring onions, egg, soy sauce, salt and pepper in a bowl until evenly combined. Fry a teaspoon of the mixture and taste it, then adjust the seasoning.
- 2Peel the wrappers apart and keep them under a damp cloth so they do not dry out and crack.
- 3Lay a wrapper with one edge towards you and spread about 1 tbsp of filling in a thin line along that edge. Fold the edge over the filling, fold in the sides and roll up tightly into a thin log, sealing the far edge with a dab of water.✎ Chef’s noteKeep them thin, about the width of a finger. A thin roll fries crisp all the way through before the wrapper burns.
- 4Heat the oil in a deep pan to 175C (350F). Fry the rolls in batches for 5 to 7 minutes, turning, until deep golden and the filling is cooked through.
- 5Drain on a rack, cut each roll into two or three pieces and serve hot with sweet chili sauce or banana ketchup.
Filipino party and home tradition.
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Central Luzon. Sisig has a clearer trail. The Kapampangan word manyisig, recorded in Bergano's dictionary, meant a sour salad; the modern chopped-pork-face version grew out of cheap pig heads from the Clark Air Base commissaries in Angeles City, and Lucia Cunanan is credited with putting it on a sizzling plate. The tourism department calls Pampanga the country's culinary capital.
🗺️
Philippines. Eating with the hands has a technique and a name. In pagkakamay a small mound of rice is pressed together with a piece of the ulam using the fingers of one hand, lifted in four cupped fingers and pushed in with the thumb, and the fingers never go into the mouth. At a salu-salo the table is lined with banana leaves wilted over a flame first to bring up their sheen.
🌍
Asia. Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, and its food spans the delicate seasonality of Japanese washoku, the chili-fired curries of India and Thailand, and the wheat-and-lamb traditions of Central Asia. Rice, noodles, soy, and fermentation recur across its regions, while ancient spice routes and religious traditions shaped distinct grammars of flavor. Whether from a street-cart wok or a monastery kitchen, eating is deeply communal and ritual-rich.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.
More from Philippines
Chicken AdoboChicken braised glossy in vinegar, soy, garlic, and black pepper, the Philippines’ definitive dish.
ChamporadoA sweet Filipino chocolate rice porridge, traditionally eaten with salty dried fish on the side.
Sinigang na BaboyThe Philippines’ beloved sour soup: pork simmered tender in a clear tamarind broth, unapologetically tart, loaded with vegetables added in stages.
Browse all Philippines recipes →
Good to know
You’ll need: Rolling pin.
Storing it: Fried food is best eaten fresh while crisp. Re-crisp leftovers in a hot oven or air fryer; the microwave makes them soft.
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Frequently asked questions
What is Lumpiang Shanghai (Filipino Pork Spring Rolls)?
Pencil-thin spring rolls of seasoned ground pork, carrot, onion and garlic, deep-fried until they shatter and served hot with sweet chili sauce or banana ketchup.
Where does Lumpiang Shanghai (Filipino Pork Spring Rolls) come from?
Lumpiang Shanghai (Filipino Pork Spring Rolls) is a Filipino dish from Central Luzon, Philippines.
Can Lumpiang Shanghai (Filipino Pork Spring Rolls) be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Lumpiang Shanghai (Filipino Pork Spring Rolls) recipe includes substitution suggestions for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, egg-free, and pork-free versions. Treat the substitutions as a starting guide rather than a guarantee, and see the allergen note below.
Is Lumpiang Shanghai (Filipino Pork Spring Rolls) safe for people with food allergies?
Our dietary labels and substitutions are a cooking guide, not medical or allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we still count coconut as a tree nut to be cautious, although the FDA stopped listing it as one in 2025), fish, and shellfish, but we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, always read the label on every product you use, and remember a home or commercial kitchen can cross-contaminate ingredients in ways a recipe cannot control.
How long does Lumpiang Shanghai (Filipino Pork Spring Rolls) take to make?
About 65 minutes total (45 minutes prep, 20 minutes cooking), serving 6.
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