Chicken Lumpia

Chicken Lumpia

Have you ever bought spring rolls at the supermarket or ordered them at a Chinese restaurant? The filling often resembles an unrecognizable mash with, if you choose, very little meat.

No, these chicken-filled spring rolls, a variation to the Filipino spring rolls called lumpiang shanghai. Deliciously filled with lots of chicken, fresh vegetables, that delicious vermicelli (unmistakable for a spring roll), and it seems as if you are biting into a mouthful of oil. And quite an easy lumpia recipe.
But you can also make them quickly and easily yourself. Spring roll wrappers are readily available. You can make the filling according to your taste, and it will take half an hour to make the filling and roll 40 spring rolls. I always freeze most of it in the freezer, but I can't resist always tasting a few before (you have to be sure it worked, right 😉 ).

Do you like to make spring rolls? I have more delicious recipes with different fillings: Spring rolls with ground beef and chicken, mini spring rolls, and even a vegetarian spring roll with cheese and cauliflower. Enjoy!

What do you need for Vietnamese Chicken Lumpia?

To prepare this Chicken Lumpia, you need the following ingredients. You can find the correct amounts in the recipe card at the bottom of the blog:

• Chicken breast - For this recipe, I used chicken breast. But chicken breast fillets are, of course, also possible.
• Leek - This vegetable has a sweet and tender taste. Slice the leek very thinly.
• Carrot - Wash and peel the carrot. Cut it into julienne strips (wafer-thin), then it will be done when the spring roll is fried.
• Mungo Vermicelli (Glass Noodles)— Commonly used in Chinese cuisine. It is semi-transparent, thin, and made from mung bean.
• Oyster sauce - This Cantonese sauce is dark brown and dense. And it is the umami of this spring roll. It is made from fermented soy sauce and is flavored with oyster juice, caramel, and salt.
• Eggs - Bind the filling
• Garlic - Adds extra flavor
• Five spice powder - a Chinese spice blend consisting of cinnamon, star anise, Szechuan pepper, fennel, and cloves. It contains five taste groups, sweet, salty, bitter, sour, and umami.
• Spring roll wrappers (lumpia wrapper) - Made from wheat flour and water. They are easy to use, tear less quickly, and stretch a little.

How to prepare Chicken vegetable spring rolls recipe

You can find a printable recipe with a step-by-step description at the bottom of this blog.

Making chicken spring rolls

1. Place the vermicelli in a bowl and add hot water. Let stand for 5 minutes and drain the water. Drain. Cut the vermicelli into small pieces and place them in the empty bowl. Mix with the carrot and leek.
2. Add the eggs, oyster sauce, garlic, and five-spice powder in a second large mixing bowl. Mix the chicken cubes through the sauce.
3. Add the vegetable mixture to the chicken and mix well. Place a spring roll with the point down in front of you and place two tablespoons of the meat mixture filling at the bottom.
4. Roll up the spring rolls tightly (below is a collage on how to do this). Preheat the frying pan to 350 °F (ca. 180 °C). Place a spring roll in the rack and bake for 2 minutes. Get out of the frying pan and let it rest for 5 minutes. Then again, put it back in the pan for another 2 minutes.

Folding spring rolls step-by-step

1. Roll the bottom tip tightly over the filling and make an extra twist.
2. Fold the two sides in tightly.
3. Brush the tip at the top with water.
4. Continue to roll up the spring roll.

To serve - These chicken lumpia's are super delicious with sweet soy sauce, sweet and sour sauce, and sweet chili sauce.

Can you bake lumpia in the Air Fryer or oven?

Deep frying is the most common way to bake spring rolls, but you can also easily make them in the oven or air fryer. Preheat the oven to 430 °F (ca. 221 °C) and bake the spring rolls for 15 minutes. Flip them halfway through.

Heat the air fryer to 400 °F (ca. 204 °C) and bake for 8 minutes. Turn the spring rolls after four minutes. They will be slightly lighter (see the photo. The bottom spring roll is deep-fried, and the top chicken spring roll is baked in the air fryer), and they taste just as good!