Baked vs Fried...the Verdict

My darling, wonderful Queen Bees!

Ok, because I am thoroughly scientific and REALLY hungry, I took time this morning to see what baked and fried lumpia survived the freezing and the reheating. :)

--I froze both the baked and the fried lumpia last night. I took three lumpia from each bag this morning.

--I then heated up a little oil on the stove and fried both a Baked Lumpia (BL) and a Fried Lumpia (FL).

--I microwaved both a BL and an FL.

--And I baked (in the toaster oven at 375) both a BL and an FL.

--Then I made the kids try them all with me and give me their verdict.

Reheat by frying: We all decided that the FL that was refried was just entirely too greasy for words. Edible? Only if you have spent the better part of your life preparing for that moment with routine trips to various fried chicken and fish places. I have, so I was ready for the grease. It was too much for both Superbee and Peekiebee. They both rated fried lumpia that was refried today as a definite "ew".

The BL that we fried was not bad. It was not as greasy as the fried lumpia was yesterday, but still was pretty oil saturated. More distressingly though was that it was not PRETTY. Edible, but not pretty.

Reheat by microwaving: These were the softest of them all. However, they were both edible. Superbee did not like the lumpia that was baked yesterday then microwaved today, but Peekiebee thought it was "ok". I would definitely just nuke the lumpia if it was just me grabbing a quick lunch--the ends of the lumpia still had a little crunch even microwaved--but I would not serve these to others.

Reheat by oven: This was definitely the best way to reheat the lumpia, baked or fried. The kids both preferred the fried lumpia that was baked to reheat. I preferred the baked lumpia that was baked to reheat. Peekiebee also agreed that that was good. Most of all, though, both lumpia were PRETTY when they were in the toaster oven. They held their shape, they did not glisten with grease or liquid like fried or microwaved can do. The baked lumpia was slightly less chewy on the inner layers than it was yesterday and more crisp. The fried lumpia was still crisp. The flavor of the insides was still wonderful in the baked lumpia, and actually seemed to be slightly improved in the fried lumpia that was baked to reheat. However, that might have just been my different tastes from last night til today.

Final results: Bake the lumpia (it is easy and healthier). Heat by baking. OR fry the lumpia but reheat by baking. Avoid frying the lumpia then refrying to reheat. Microwave is ok only if you are one of those people who are laid back about texture, etc.

Have a great day! :)

Baked Vs Fried Lumpia

Good evening my busy bees!

Today I decided I was going to make a mega batch of lumpia (eggrolls).

Now, if you have read this blog, gone out to supper with me, or met me at all, you KNOW that I have no problem with fried foods :).

However, after I had to DRAIN THE OIL from each roll of the first batch of lumpia, I decided to try baking them instead (and prayed they would work well!)

I made the lumpia and then coated liberally with oil by spraying some and brushing on others (to see which worked better :) ). Why did I coat them with oil? Because I still wanted that crunchy, crispy, nummy crust. I just did not want to have to wring out the rolls. :) So they only got the oil they needed to make the wrapper crisp, without having oil soak into the filling.

The verdict? I actually prefer the baked ones. The crust is a little more chewy, BUT you can actually taste the filling (as a lot of grease tends to overpower more delicate flavors). I am freezing both (because I ended up with 56 lumpia total!), and will see what reheating method works better and which type stands up to freezing and reheating :)

Stay tuned for the results! :)