While we were cleaning one of the turkeys we killed this season, we noticed the front side of one breast had caught the bottom half of the shot pattern. After digging through the meat with a knife to pull out pellets, the breast looked rather raggedy, so we decided to grind it up and make lumpia.

We make lumpia a few times a year, usually with venison, but this recipe works well with just about any meat. We have started adding a little pork fat to our lumpia mix, which is optional, but it makes for a juicer final product.

Another thing we have started doing is grinding all the ingredients together. We used to process the veggies separately and mix it into the grind, but we found that the mix and grind method is a lot more efficient and has a better overall texture. If you’re starting with meat that has already been ground, go ahead and dice up your veggies as small as you can and mix them in, but if you’re grinding meat for this recipe anyways, just throw them into the grinder with the meat. It’ll save you some time and the texture will be more uniform.

Make a bunch of these, you’ll eat more than you plan to. This recipe makes around 30-40 lumpia rolls per pound of meat- this sounds like a lot, until you start eating them. They freeze really well, and you can cook them from frozen, so our recommendation would be to make a big batch and save them for later.

Wild Turkey Lumpia Recipe

Prep time: 1 hour

Cook time: 10 minutes

To make this dish, first weigh out the turkey meat you are planning on using. Use this weight to calculate the remaining ingredients on the list. This ensures your recipe comes out every time you make it, regardless of the size of the turkey breast (or deboned thighs) you are using. If you do not own a kitchen scale yet, now is the time to buy one- they are inexpensive and make a world of difference when you are making sausage, charcuterie, or baking.

Ingredients:

100% turkey meat, cubed, skin off, tendons removed

20% pork fat, cubed

15% carrot, peeled, diced

15% onion, diced

2% green onion, diced

2% garlic, minced

2% soy sauce

0.7% salt

0.7% black pepper

Lumpia wrappers (30-40 per pound of meat)

Method:

Weigh the turkey meat and use that weight to calculate the rest of your ingredients.

Combine all ingredients, mix, and grind through the fine die of your meat grinder. Refrigerate for around 30 minutes to firm up the meat before rolling. 

Place ~1.5 tablespoons of mix on a lumpia wrapper and roll. 

Fry at 350-375F for ~3 minutes until golden brown and internal temperature reaches at least 145F.

Allow to drain on a wire rack or paper towel lined plate. Serve with tangy-sweet sambal oelek dipping sauce, and shiso leaves or lettuce.

Lumpia freezes really well and can be cooked from frozen. Spread rolled lumpia out (so they are not touching) on a lined sheet pan and freeze. Once frozen, pack them up in a ziploc or vacuum seal. Work fast so they don't thaw. If packed together thawed, they’ll freeze into one big block.