Pork Lumpia Rough Draft

            My eyes opened seeing myself in my old, blue, teddy bear decorated room. I quickly got up and searched the house trying to find the rest of my family members, but no one was home. Living in a house, which is 10 steps away from my grandmother’s house, I go there to search for my parents. As I opened the door, there I see my sister, my mother and my grandmother sitting together on a table preparing to make lunch for the entire family. Curiously I asked them what it was. My mom replied saying that they were cooking pork lumpia as one of the dishes for our family lunch”.  I had no idea what this “fork lumpi” was but still being half asleep I head to the couch to watch some television.

            Watching my favorite television show “Tom&Jerry” was my perfect way of spending my Christmas vacation in the Philippines. But then it stopped, my grandmother’s frying pan was making all these ticks and oil popping sounds that distracted me from my show! Irritably walking towards the kitchen I asked her why there were so much noise. “How do you think we’re gonna cook lumpia with out making noise, Nash!”  Without caring I walked away, but stopped as a smelt the most heavenly smell of my grandmother’s cooking. My mother called me and my other family members to the table and said our grace and began to eat. My dad prepared my plate with rice and passed it to me. My mother on the other hand, asked my what I wanted to eat. Seeing all the different types of food on the big, round, wooden table I would see foods like pancit, spaghetti, soup, and steak, I asked my mom for whatever grandma was cooking. She agreed and placed four pieces of lumpia on my plate and on the side she added some sweet chili sauce.  I thanked her and began to eat. At the first bite, I froze, I just remembered it was really hot causing me to burn my tongue. But as it got cooler, the flavor started to get to me. It tasted marvelous, it’s golden brown wrap containing perfectly spiced meat, dipped in the sweet chili sauce made me savor the flavor and to take bigger bites until I finished the food on my plate.

            But back to present day, I interviewed my mother, which was the absolute best at making pork lumpia. “Okay mom, first question. Why is this dish so important to our family?” “Well, besides the flavor and mouth watering taste, it makes a great finger food, it’s easy to make, and it’s perfect for bringing to celebrations.”  After that question I asked her if she knew any history about this food that has to do with our family. “ Since the original dish is Lumpia Shanghai, my grandfather’s mother was Chinese, which passed down the recipe all the way to today.” “Do you know how old you were when you first tried this food?” “I believe I was pretty young, I think I was 6 or 7 when I first tried it.” “Last question mom, when will you cook this spectacular dish again?!” Laughing with a big smile on her face, she told me that since this dish is so simple and easy to make, she would surprise me with it.