Lumpia Shanghai

Lumpia Shanghai is a beloved Filipino party staple similar to spring rolls and known for its crunchy golden exterior and savory pork filling. This version combines ground pork with crunchy water chestnuts, carrots, scallions, garlic and ginger for a filling that’s flavorful, juicy and packed with texture. A blend of soy sauce, oyster sauce and sesame oil adds depth and umami, while a quick fry creates the signature shatteringly crisp wrapper. This recipe gives you a generous batch of about 75 rolls, perfect for feeding a crowd at your next party, or for freezing unfried so you’ve got a stash ready for any celebration, large or small. Serve the lumpia with sweet chili sauce, sweet-and-sour sauce, duck sauce or the Filipino vinegar-based dipping sauce known as sawsawan.

Salt Bread (Shio Pan)

Crisp, buttery, soft and browned to perfection: these are the adjectives that describe these salt breads, which originate from Japan. The rolls, shaped like croissants, are stuffed with blocks of butter, enriching them even more. When they bake, some of the butter leaks out, making the perfect frying environment to help produce their iconic crunchy bottoms. After baking, the tops are basted with the remaining butter for extra richness and shine.

Scallion Pancakes (Cong You Bing)

A flaky flatbread built from rolling and spiraling layers of dough. It’s China’s version of laminated dough — serve it warm with a light dipping sauce. The goal is a crisp exterior and a tender, layered interior.