Lumpia tastes off?

Question

For those who don’t know lumpia is a tiny eggroll made with pork, carrots, celery and eggs.  
I make them in large numbers, 400-500 at a time but i can only cook about 60 for the family once in a while and 100 for my co workers.  So i freeze the ones that aren’t used.  I put them all in ziploc baggies.  30 per bag and stick them in the freezer.  When i thaw and cook them though, they don’t taste good.  They are much better before they are frozen.  I know that freezing something usually changes it a little but i’ve never had the taste altered so much before where the meat also becomes tough and hard to chew.  Any ideas as to why that might’ve happened?  It’s probably something really easy i just don’t know it

Anonymous · Answer

Next time, only make enough so that they will all be eaten fresh [by family and co-workers and yourself]. Lumpia are not suitable for freezing and you just waste a lot of time, work, and money.

chorle · Answer

if first I thought this question was about preparing lumpia to cook later like they sell at Costco and Asian food markets but I see it is about left-over lumpia but I rarely ever see leftover lumpia.
I know when someone brings me home some cooked lumpia it heats a lot better in my NuWave mini oven than it does in the microwave. How are you reheating your cooked lumpia?

RICK · Answer

Actually lumpia can be made with many different ingredients and after more the 40 years of being in the Philippines and married to a Filipina I have NEVER heard of anyone putting eggs in lumpia
My wife's best lumpia is ground beef instead of pork, and the only egg she uses is as a glue to hold the wrapper closed
And shrimp lumpia is good too
But to answer your question sounds like freezer burn of the eggs

ckngbbbls · Answer

eggs become tough to chew and I bet thats what you are thinking is the meat.

? · Answer

No idea, I make them almost  the same way (beef instead pork and no eggs in mine though) and I've never had a problem

CrustyCurmudgeon · Answer

I don't work for a vacuum sealer company, but I am a fan. Oxygen is the enemy of flavor in frozen foods.  Many years ago, I bought a Food Saver vacuum sealer at Goodwill. I've replaced it a couple of times, but still use vacuum sealing to make frozen food taste very close to fresh.
Vacuum sealing removes the oxygen from frozen foods, which halts freezer burn and bad tastes in frozen foods.  I cooked a couple of rib eye steaks that had been in the freezer for three years, and they came out great. It works, and I'm a fan.

Anonymous · Answer

Just a wild guess. Lower the cooking temperature and extend the cooking time. Maybe the stuff will get cooked.
  OR, to great really wild, steam the lumpia first, then deep fry,

Lumpia tastes off?

7 Answers