Philippines on our minds: Filipino Ensaymada Bread and Lumpiang Sariwa

It has been a bittersweet time for the Philippines these recent weeks. First, I want to acknowledge the elephant in the room at this time of celebration… The Taal Volcano eruption that occurred one week, January 12, 2020, before the biggest annual celebration on the island. This volcano is known as the world’s smallest yet one of the deadliest in existence. The eruption occurred just south of Manila (the largest city and capital in the Philippines) and blasted steam and rock (ash) up to 9 miles in the sky. It appears few were injured, but ash and debris stretch for miles causing much recovery for the locals; thousands were evacuated.

This untimely explosion preceded the largest festival of the year, Ati-Atihan. This well-known celebration ended this past Sunday, January 19. Thus, while the country has been on edge anticipating more eruptions and earthquakes (more than 400 caused by the explosion, according to the NDRRMC), one wonders… did the celebrations go on? Yes, they did.

The Ati-Atihan’s biggest celebration takes place annually in the town of Kalibo located on a different island south of Manila in the Philippines (see map above). In fact, it’s an hour flight from Manila to Kalibo. While ash and debris are seen for miles from the volcanic eruption, Kalibo itself was not directly affected. However, people all over the Philippines and the world travel to be a part of this annual event.

This past weekend’s bake and accompanying dish included the traditional Filipino Ensaymada Bread and Lumpiang Sariwa with fresh Lumpia Wrapper. Both of these were so familiar yet so unique. These were definitely a fusion of east meets west. So, how did they turn out?

The Ensaymada bread can be described as a buttery, lightly sweetened, pillowy roll topped with butter, sugar, and cheese often served as a dessert or snack (think French brioche with sugar and cheese). In fact, it isn’t uncommon to find it topped with frosting and cheese. It is one of the oldest Filipino breads and known to be a variation of Spanish culture. We ate the bread with our meal since it wasn’t too sweet; with the cheese on top, it worked quite well as a meal accompaniment.

The Ensaymada bread preparation and process: The recipe used for the bake is from Pilipina’s Recipes entitled Ensaymada Recipe (recipe linked to title).

Note: There are a couple of recipe “additions” below as the recipe I used did not include the amount of salt or consistency of butter. My modifications are based on experience in baking hundreds of loaves of bread and knowing what works. 😉

Make the dough

In a small bowl, add 1/3 cup water and yeast to combine. Set aside for about 10 minutes to blooming. In a large bowl, sift 3 3/4 cups of flour. To the bowl of flour, add 1/3 cup of sugar, and 1/2 tsp salt and stir to combine.

After mixing and “kneading” for about 10 minutes, the dough is sticky and messy, but it works. Cover the bowl and let the dough rise for 1-2 hours or until doubled in size.

Ensaymada bread thoughts: Oooohhhh!!! Boy… now that’s a gooooood bread!! I don’t think I really need to say much. Although this is an authentic Filipino bread recipe, in the future for my own tastes, I would rather have this as a meal side without sugar on top. The cheese isn’t necessary either as the bread is amazing as it. The presentation of this bread is beautiful and would make a wonderful roll for guests. It sort of looks like a rose… maybe a Valentine’s side bread anyone OR add the sugar with a little dark chocolate on the side (or shavings on top) and make it a dessert with some hot chocolate?

Modifications: Notice I added 1/2 tsp of salt and melted the butter that was added to the dough as it mixed as well as to the flattened dough prior to coiling. A nice brush of additional butter to the top after it exits the oven is a must as well. Also, the traditional cheese is Edam (Gouda is a great substitute), but cheddar is commonly used.

Interestingly enough, the coil actually has a history… the shape represents the Moorish turbans worn during the conquest between the 8th and 15th centuries. I like to think of it as a rose… a little romance, maybe? Hey… Valentine’s Day is coming soon!

Mmmmmmm… what about the spring roll, Filipino style?

You may think you know your spring rolls, but not all spring rolls are alike. Most of the spring rolls we find in the US are the Chinese version having a paper-thin rice wrap enclosing veggies with a meat like pork or shrimp. The Filipino version incorporates a European flair with a French crêpe wrap made primarily of eggs and flour along with sweet potato as one of the veggies. Let’s take a look at the Filipino version. Thanks to Vanjo Merano for a great recipe and demonstration video for his Lumpiang Sariwa with Fresh Lumpia Wrapper (recipe linked to title).

This recipe is divided into 3 parts: Lumpia filling, Lumpia Wrapper, and Lumpia finishing sauce; there’s also the three ingredient topping. Btw- the word Lumpia just refers to spring rolls.

First step: ingredients and steps for the Lumpia filling…

Prepare the Tofu

Drain and squeeze out as much liquid as you can from the tofu. You likely need several paper towels. Cube tofu and fry in a dry non-stick skillet until brown. Then set aside.

Saute the Veggies

Saute the onions for a few minutes in tablespoon of oil until soft. Add the garlic for about 30 seconds. Then, add the purple sweet potato and water. When boiling, add 1/2 tsp of shrimp paste and cover to cook for 5 minutes. Uncover and add the 1/2 cup of shrimp and browned tofu cubes. Add the remaining veggies and cook for 3 minutes. Then season with fish sauce, ground pepper, and Italian parsley.

Second step: ingredients and steps for the Lumpia wrapper…

Make the Lumpia Wrapper Batter

Whisk together eggs, water, and oil. Slowly add the flour while whisking into the wet ingredients. Pour batter in a warm skillet sprayed with cooking spray and cook.

Third step: ingredients and steps for the Lumpia sauce…

Assembly time!!

Lumpiang Sariwa with Fresh Lumpia Wrapper thoughts: The spring roll ingredients were really nice and flavorful. My Lumpia wrapper was a little too thick, but the flavors were there. While a pretty and interesting dish, it was quite difficult to eat because it fell apart. Honestly, I would rather just have this dish without the wrapper and just eat it as a lettuce wrap. The purple sweet potato definitely made the ingredients pop… we eat with our eyes first, right? The recipe called for a shrimp cube, but since I had shrimp paste, I just used a 1/2 tsp of that instead. I ended up adding more fish sauce to taste. The garlicky, brown sugar sauce on top added a little sweetness but not too much. For leftovers, we prepared the dish like an open-face sandwich… Lumpia wrapper on bottom, torn lettuce on top, with everything else on top of that… sort of a salad with a wrapper on bottom. You could also make a layered salad with the strips of the wrapper on top like a condiment…. options!

My Philippines weekend bake final thoughts: My takeaway for the Philippines is the interesting blend of Asian flavors with Western ingredients… fish and soy sauce with cheese and sweet potato? It really was good. Using the European egg crêpe as a spring roll wrap was certainly interesting; it added to the dish by providing additional sustenance to the many veggies. The bread was unforgettable and certainly a keeper to make for guests… such a beautiful addition to any meal. We enjoyed the meal in its entirety and discussed the mix of cultures in the flavors. While many Asian cultures and cuisine can be a bit stereotypical in containing the expected Asian flavors, Filipino cuisine surprisingly did not. Sometimes I feel we pigeonhole flavors into specific cultures but why? I wouldn’t have imagined that the blend of flavors could work as well as they did. I’m intrigued and want to make more Filipino cuisine to discover other unique flavor combinations.

I appreciate you taking the time to read. Please like, comment, or consider following my blog. Until next time… happy baking!