No Fry Vegetable Roll (Lumpiang Ubod)

This vegetable roll is very popular in the Philippines. It is very special and I would only see them served at parties.  One of the main ingredient is palm heart.  It the the core of a palm or coconut tree.  It tastes slightly sweet and creamy.  You can find it in the Asian or Hispanic section of the grocery or in the canned vegetable aisle.  It comes in cans or bottles. It is actually the first time I am fixing this (in my entire life!)  I must say, I did very very good!

You can make this dish purely vegetarian or you can add shrimps or ground chicken or pork.  I made mine without the meat since I had it on a no meat Friday.

Palm hearts are very good sources of dietary fiber.  It is low and salt and low in sugar.  It is high in essential minerals with levels better than meat.  It is a good source of phosphorus and calcium.  One cup of hearts of palm contain potassium equivalent to 6 bananas.

Source: http://www.livestrong.com/article/538355-fresh-hearts-of-palm-nutrition/

Ingredients

For the Wrapper

1/2 c cornstarch

3/4 c water

2 eggs

1 tbsp vegetable oil

Mix all ingredients together and let it sit for at least 30 minutes. Preheat a non-stick pan to medium high heat. Scoop 1/4 cup of the batter to the pan.  For smaller wrappers, use 2-3 tablespoons per wrapper. Swirl the pan to make an even thin layer. Cook for one minute and flip.  Cook for another minute.  Set aside.  Continue making the rest of the wrapper.

For the Filling

1 tbsp vegetable oil

1 medium onion, diced

2 large cloves of garlic, minced

1 c Hearts of Palm, rinsed and julienned

1 c bamboo shoots, rinsed and julienned

1 c green beans, sliced thinly

1 head curly lettuce, rinsed and dried

salt and pepper to taste

1/2 lb shrimps, shelled and deveined (optional)

1 c ground chicken, pork or turkey (optional)

In a large pan on medium high, heat oil.  Add onions and saute for 1 minute.  Add garlic and cook until golden brown.  If you are adding meat to the dish, add it here.

Add all vegetables and cook until done, around 5 minutes.

Season with salt and pepper.  Set aside.

For the Sauce

1 tbsp cornstarch

1/2 c vegetable stock (or chicken stock)

1/8 c brown sugar

1 tbsp light soy sauce

salt and pepper to taste

crushed nuts (for serving)

In a saucepan, mix all ingredients. Cook all ingredients in medium low until sauce thickens.

Assemble the vegetable roll

On a flat surface, lay your wrapper. Take one lettuce leaf place on one side or the wrapper. Make sure that you leave at least and inch of the lettuce tops extends over the wrapper. Get some filling and spoon it over the lettuce.  The amount of filling will depend on how big you want your roll to be.  I used three spoonfuls of filling (my rolls were big). Roll the wrapper making sure that it is rolled tight.  Drizzle some sauce over the vegetable roll and top with crushed nuts.