Cebu’s Lumpia Ngohiong or Ngoyong
Jul 29
Whenever I go home to my hometown in Cebu, I make it a point to buy Lumpiang Ngohiong. I recently went to Cebu for my 35th High School reunion and the first thing I looked for was the Ngohiong. Well, what is Ngohiong? It looks like kikiam but the taste of ngohiong is excellent. It’s similar to our Lumpia Shanghai except the stuffings are composed of ubod ( heart of the coconut), singkamas , garlic, spring onions, spices and ground pork or shrimps, then seasoned with ngohiong powder. Before frying the individual ngohiong pieces, one dips it in corn starch batter for crispy texture. Ngohiong Powder can be bought at the grocery stores. A common brand is McCormick Chinese Five Spice (Ngo Yong) 
Anyway, I was craving for Ngohiong so much that my classmate taught me the basic recipe. I am sure you will just love it as much. You can adjust the proportions to suit your taste.
I have divided the recipe into three parts: the filling, the corn starch batter and lastly the ngohiong sauce. If you can’t find 5-spice powder at the grocery, I have also included the recipe below. The 5-spice powder will prove to be useful for other chinese dishes like siomai so it’s good to make a batch. It’s worth it.
Filling:
Ready made lumpia wrapper (get large size) or you can also use tofu wraps (called tau-pe)
1 kilo ubod, cut in strips
1/4 cup singkamas, cut in strips
3 tbsp ngohiong powder
1 teaspoon garlic
1 onion, minced
1 tbsp 5-spice powder (see recipe below if you can’t find 5 spice powder in the grocery or disregard this and just add 1 more tablespoon ngohiong powder to the filling ingredients)
5 stalks green onions, chopped
1/2 kilo ground pork or you may want to subsitute with shrimps if you are vegetarian
salt, pepper, and soy sauce to your discretion
1.Saute garlic and onions
2, Add pork and a little salt.
3, Add 1 cup water to cook the pork
4. When pork is cooked, add the shredded ubod and singkamas and mix all together. Season with ngoyong powder.
Test a small portion in a frying pan to make sure you have the right taste.
5. After you are satisfied with the taste, stuff filling into a large lumpia wrapper.
6. Dip roll in batter (recipe below) before frying in a wok.
7. When fried, cut the ngohiong in desired serving pieces. I usually cut into three portions.
Corn starch Batter:
2 cups cornstarch
3 tsp paprika
1 teaspoon white pepper
1 1/2 cup water
Ngohiong sauce:
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp brown sugar
1/4 tsp ngohiong powder
5 tbsp water
1/2 tsp corn flour
Little salt
1 egg white, lightly beaten
1. Mix all sauce ingredients in a small saucepan.
2. Simmer to gentle boil for 2 minutes.
3. Stir every so often until sauce turns smooth.
4. Add the blended egg white. Stir gently with a fork to create fine strands. Cool.
Make your own Chinese Five spice powder seasoning mix using either ground or whole spices.
Ingredients:
1 tsp. ground Szechwan pepper
1 tsp. ground star anise
1-1/4 tsp. ground fennel seeds (replace with coriander if you can’t find fennel seeds)
1/2 tsp. ground cloves
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. ground white pepper
Grind each ingredient separately in a spice mill or mortar. Combine and mix well. Store in an airtight container in a cool, dark place.
(Source of 5-spice powder:busycooks)
Ngohiong can be frozen and then fried when needed.
Recommend this recipe?If you like this recipe, please recommend to your friends by adding a plus one
you can also use tofu wraps (called tau-pe). these can be bought from soy stores in binondo, banawe or greenhills. it’s actually the original wrapping meant for ngohiong
I miss ngohiong! That was part of my regular diet as a college student there in Cebu – it was cheap and delicious! I would love to make this but I don’t have access to ngohiong powder. What is a good substitute for that?
is’nt ngohiong powder and 5 spice powder the same? do i need to put that much spices? thanks
thanks for the suggestion. Sometimes tofu wraps are not that readily available
5 spice powder
you can skip the 5 spice powder. Remember this is for 1 kilo batch. Freeze the rest for future meals.
i have the 5 spice powder but i wonder where to buy that ngoyong powder?
Ngo Hiong and 5-Spice Powder are the same. Ngo Hiong / Go Hiong (Hokkien) or Wu Xiang (Mandarin) literally mean “five fragrance / spice”.
Okey ra nako para magmit sa akong canteen sa sckool
Try out Puso King Hanging Rice Express (LRT1 Balintawak Station)! They have puso, ngohiong and cebu chorizo! Really yummy
and affordable too!
Try Puso King Hanging Rice Express (LRT1 Balintawak Station)! They have ngohiong, Cebu chorizo and puso! Really yummy and affordable too
if Ngohiong powder and five spice power are the same, does it mean that i can use 4 tbsp of five spice powder and no ngohiong powder instead?
so does it mean that I can put 4 tbsp of five spice powder and no ngohiong powder instead?
Now I know the ingredients of Ngohiong. I thought it’s made of pure ubod and singkamas. Now I know that ground pork and shrimps are also included.
It’s in San Carlos University Ongkera Extension, at Chinese Nghohiong House, where I often go to eat the original Ngohiong.
Cheers!
Yes, Elsa. You can use five spice powder as a substitute for ngohiong powder. If you check this image, you can see that they are the same thing
http://pinoyfoodblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/ngo-yong-225×300.jpg
Wow..definitely missed ngohiong..cant wait to try out this recipe..tnx for posting it!
what’s the difference between ngohiong powder and 5-spice powder? in ur recipe,u have both. but in ur intro,u said u can get a mccormick brand for ngohiong powder(mccormick 5-spice powder)
I wanted to make ngohiong but i want to make sure if i could use just the mccormick since i live in the states and it’s difficult to get all the ingredients.
thanks a lot!