i'm not sure how i came up with the idea. i thought i saw "philly cheesesteak eggroll" on a list of different foods from different countries while i was rooting around the interweb for colman andrews' bio. but when i tried to replicate my search, i wasn't able to find the list i claim to have seen earlier in the day. (it's quite possible that i saw a list with the words, "philly cheesesteak" and "eggrolls" and they were near enough on the list that i automatically assumed they were one entity.) either way, and maybe it's just that i don't get out often enough, but i haven't yet heard of a philly cheesesteak eggroll, so i decided to make some.

i know i should use the best ingredients when possible, but let's get serious. it's been a long week, and i just didn't feel like hunting around the store for fine cuts of beef that i could thinly slice and use in my experimental finger food. and since this was my first attempt, i figured if i made them now with lesser quality steak, and they turned out awesome, it could only get better with higher quality beef, right? (yes, i know this thinking is backwards, but just play along!)

when i was younger, my mom would cook food after she woke up (wacky sleep patterns - she worked the 11pm-7am shift for over 30 years) so that my dad, brother, and i would have something to eat when we came home from work/school. most of the time it was filipino food, but on occasion, and especially because jano used to be a picky eater, she would make something different and easy. sometimes spaghetti. sometimes hotdogs. sometimes cheesesteaks using steak um. of course it wasn't the same as going down to dalessandro's, but it was satisfying, and quite delicious. so i am not afraid to admit that i used "the philly steak" this time around.

if you have no idea what steak um-like products are, they're basically thin, chipped wafers / sheets of frozen 100% beef. i checked out the ingredients, and while it's not the leanest, it didn't have anything particularly bad in it, so i was content with my choice. another selling point for "the philly steak" was that it only takes about a minute or two to cook on the stove (from freezer to pan, no defrosting), so it would make for fast eating.

as i let the eggroll wrappers defrost, i sliced a large onion and caramelized it over low heat for about 45 min or so, until the onions were getting a nice brown caramel (duh) color to them. after i pulled them off the heat, i broke the 2 servings of steak sheets into large pieces, and cooked them for about 30 seconds, so that they weren't fully cooked, but they were pliable and not frozen anymore. after i pulled the semi-cooked beef, i made sure to blot out as much grease as possible.

because we only had the large lumpia wrappers and i was interested more in making lumpia shanghai-sized eggrolls, cavin cut the wrappers into squares 2" shorter all the way around. (we fried the leftover wrapper scraps and made chips.) then i rolled the eggrolls using the beef, onions, and a small slice of provolone cheese as the filling, and sealed with a beaten egg. i was able to make 10 lumpias.

i think they turned out pretty great! i was worried because cavin read the back of the package and it repeatedly said, "do not overcook meat" and i wanted to try to heed this advice. because i took the time to cook the onions properly, they were pleasantly sweet. had i not done this, i think the lumpia wouldn't have turned out as good as they did. the only thing i would do differently, is to add a little bit more cheese. you could taste provolone, but only very slightly. the only salt i added was to the onions while cooking, and still the lumpia were seasoned perfectly.

cavin and i ate them plain, because we hadn't yet come up with the proper condiment. ordinary ketchup would be a travesty and i think i can come up with something more interesting. (ideas anyone?)

after we finished off the last one, i wanted more, and considering the philly steak yielded tasty results, perhaps if i use higher quality beef they will turn out even better. but, if you are interested in making these and are strapped for time, i see nothing wrong with steak um-like beef. hell, the next time i make them will probably be with the frozen beef. i mean, i have 5 more servings of it in the freezer, so why not?