In this episode of What's for Dinner?, we meet Richie Castillo and Alex O'Neill who the run Filipino food truck and pop-up restaurant Bahay.
They welcome siblings Olivia and Sam from Clontarf, Dublin into their kitchen to make Pork Lumpia, which are Filipino spring rolls.
FYI - You could also use oyster mushrooms if you wanted to make a veggie version.
Richie grew up making these with his family and they were a big hit with his friends. Lumpia are so delicious that even Sam, who is not a vegetable fan, absolutely loved them.
The Philippines is a country made up of over seven thousand islands, it’s in South East Asia and has an amazing food culture. Bahay means home in the Tagalog language and Richie and Alex made this week’s reporters – siblings Olivia and Sam – feel right at home in their kitchen.
Lumpia are a lot of fun to make, there’s the usual stuff like chopping and grating, but there’s also squeezing, wrapping and making egg glue! They’re great to make with family and friends as everyone can sit around chatting and wrapping rolls before they’re cooked. Richie and Alex have made literally thousands of them and that’s how they like to do it too. After all, that’s what’s so great about food, it’s all about bringing people together.
Cooking lumpia involves frying in hot oil so you absolutely must have an adult on hand to supervise closely. Richie and Alex helped Olivia and Sam with this part as hot oil can be really dangerous, so they didn’t take any chances.
It’s also a good idea to cut your lumpia in half before you eat it, just to let some of the hot air out so you can enjoy the filling without burning your mouth.
Olivia and Sam learned loads of new techniques from Richie and Alex, they may even have a new budding love for cabbage! If you don’t have a deep fat fryer, you could always make some at home and bring them around to a friend’s house to cook. They also freeze for up to 3 weeks, just pop some parchment paper between layers of rolls.
Richie and Alex have a new book out soon celebrating Filipino food and featuring everything from breakfasts to street-food and snacks. It’s called Masarap, which means tasty in Tagalog.
Get creative in the kitchen with this podcast from RTÉjr, produced by Jan Ní Fhlanagáin, featuring lots of tasty, easy and quick meals that are perfect for dinner.
Chefs and home cooks make recipes from all over the world including veggie, vegan and gluten-free options. From tortillas to saltfish fritters, curries to crepes, What's For Dinner? has something for everyone!
Subscribe to What's For Dinner? here!
There are more recipes from great home cooks and chefs here too.
And visit rte.ie/jrpodcasts to see our full menu of podcasts!!
