Lumpia Wrapped Memories

Any kid around the age of ten would probably tell you how much they just hated going to the doctor’s office. The concept of leaving the house to let a stranger poke and do what they will upon you is just too high a price to getting better. Like all kids, my thoughts on how to get better involved a lot of ice cream and chocolates. However there was one thing that I specially looked forward to after a visit to the clinic, and this was the old lady outside the clinic selling lumpia toge.
This has always been a favorite food of mine. Crisp on the outside, juicy on the inside and dunked in hot and spicy vinegar, I remember having the capacity to eat a good number of these in one sitting. (Well, I actually just stood there on the street while eating it, so is the better verb ‘standing’?)

In between doctor appointments, there was another steady source of lumpia for me just outside of the school gates. While the other kids ran to the game-and-watch-guy or the lady selling all these assorted toys, I took time to count out what was left of my allowance to buy and eat around 4 or 5 of these. My allowance then amounted to just 5 pesos back then, a jeepney ride costs 1 peso but I would walk home just to get the most out of the experience.

By the time I got to high school, I had lost most of my sources of lumpia. The lady outside the doctor’s office was no longer there and changing schools meant bye bye to my daily after school dose. Sometimes my mom would make her version of it but it just didn’t taste right. Didn’t have the heart to tell her though as she took pride in her making what she knew was one of my favorite foods.

I was reunited with my favorite lumpia when I got to college. There, women and kids hauling basket fulls of lumpia, banana-que and turon roamed free through the campus and even inside the buildings. I was fascinated with the sheer size of the lumpia which they sold, opening up my horizons to sardine-can sized varieties that were allowed to “swim” in a thin transparent plastic bag. Fortunately, (well, depends on how you look at it, really) this gave me a steady supply for a great many years. I specially chose the darker more toasted ones, extra crispy wrappers that held their texture despite prolonged exposure to the vinegar. If I were to make a list of the things that I miss most about college, this afternoon delight would surely come in amongst the top 5. (No, the math and physics buildings won’t even make it to the top 1,000 list)

Sadly, my lumpia feeding frenzy stopped as soon as I graduated. The times that I can savor the complex textures and spicy taste of it come very few and far between. Sometimes catching a glimpse of a lumpia vendor is enough to make me stop traffic so I could buy my fill. I remember once I attempted to make one myself and turned out to be a disaster. The wrapper gave way and it was like eating fried nachos and bean sprouts.

Wait, you might be wondering why I’m writing about such a trivial topic. Well, 1. I’m eating a lumpia right now, 2. I’ve nothing better to use, and they’re (plural, yes) sitting right in front of me (for now), 3. It tastes great though a bit on the oily side, 4. I got pretty hungry and have been thinking about it since I spied it from a store, and 5. In case you’re new to my posts, trivial things are all that I write about. Yes, there’s a story about this coming…

*****

I was seated on a bench by the beach, hearing the waves crashing down in fairly consistent intervals when I looked at my watch and realized I was supposed to be hungry. After considering my options for about 15 minutes, I decided to walk out of the resort and scour the nearby stores down the street. I distinctly remember bananas being fried and wrapped into turons on the drive to and how the woman wrapped the bananas reminded me very much of lumpia toge. (Beansprouts wrapped in rice flour wafers is my best description of lumpia toge, I could be wrong) Thought I’d go check it out and buy one and as I got nearer to the store. I inquired how much a piece costs and thought it to be a really cheap price. Out of an impulse, I asked if they had lumpia as well. She nodded, but told me that they weren’t cooked yet. I asked her again, unbelieving my ears and got confirmation that a batch was about to be cooked. She said it would be ready in 15 minutes or so and I decided to wait in a nearby store while sipping a soda. I waited a full 20 minutes just to be sure and when I came back, there it was!

I bought 6 pieces and took it back with me to the resort. It was fresh from the hot oil and needed to rest a bit before I could indulge. Then indulge I did, helping myself to large bites and letting the vinegar drip from the corners of my mouth. With each helping, the memories of my love for lumpia came flooding back to me and prompted me to take out my laptop and write all about it.

Well, that catches us up, I guess.