Lumpiang Ubod

Also known as lumpiang sariwa (fresh lumpia).

Ubod is the heart of the coconut palm where the leaves and the nuts are formed. The tree dies when the ubod is removed.

The Visayans who started this kind of lumpia set aside enclosures of coconut trees barely a foot apart, all meant to be cut down in their babyhood to make lumpiang ubod.

INGREDIENTS FOR LUMPIANG UBOD

1/4 cup pork fat
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 small onion, sliced
1/2 kilo boiled pork, diced
1/4 kilo boiled shrimps, diced
1/4 cup raw ham

1 cup shrimp juice (To make: Pound shrimp heads, add water, and mash until all juice is leached out. Strain off the shells.)

3 tablespoons soy sauce
1 cup green beans, finely chopped
1/2 cup cabbage, shredded
1/4 medium ubod, boiled in salted water until tender and cut into julienne strips

salt to taste

24 lettuce leaves
24 lumpia wrappers

HOW TO MAKE LUMPIANG UBOD

In a pan, place the pork fat and saute the garlic and onion.
Add the pork, shrimps and ham.
When cooked, put in shrimp juice and soy sauce.
Add green beans, cabbage and ubod, cooking until tender.
Season with salt.

Place lettuce leaf on one lumpia wrapper with the end protruding over the edge.
Wrap about two heaping tablespoons of the mixture in the lumpia wrapper, tucking in one end, with the lettuce leaf peeping out of the other.

Serve with sauce.

RECIPE FOR ACCOMPANYING SAUCE

4 tablespoons sugar
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 cup beef or chicken stock
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons cornstarch dissolved in one-fourth cup water
2 cloves garlic, finely minced