Lea este artículo en español aquí.
Triple El Lumpia, a Hollister Downtown Association Farmers Market mainstay for the past three years, proves that success in the food business sometimes comes not from offering a menu packed with options, but doing a few things exceptionally well.
Wife-and-husband owners Nancy Bacnat Pascua and Ramil Pasqua offer only three dishes, but they are all imbued with the rich flavors of traditional Philippine cooking, particularly the lumpia, seasoned ground chicken wrapped in a crispy shell.
Protein Papi owner Adrian Villanueva, whose tent is usually located near the Pasquas’ tent at the Farmers Market, is one of the couple’s biggest fans.
“These are my people,” he said, “and their food is fire. Everything is totally fresh and made on-site, and the flavors and textures are amazing. And their sauces are like nothing else. You definitely should try them, but come early because sometimes they sell out fast.”
When the Pasquas came from the Philippines in 1992, there was no thought of running a food stand. Both had lived in the countryside there and cooked only for themselves. But lumpia was always the centerpiece of any gathering.
“When you go to a party back home,” Nancy said, “lumpia is the first thing that everybody looks for. It’s always been the main dish for Filipinos.”
When Nancy first arrived in Hollister, opening her own food business was the last thing on her mind. She took a job at K&S Market on Tres Pinos Road and stayed on as the store became the Safeway grocery store that stands there today, eventually rising to bakery manager.
“It is a lot of work,” she said. “I am baking all day long, taking inventory, decorating cakes, doing the packaging, and everything else that needs to be done.”
Her transition to owning her own food tent began when her children brought hungry friends home from school. They enjoyed her lumpia so much that Nancy got in the habit of making larger batches, preparing that and other Filipino dishes for parties, guests and co-workers.
The cooking received consistent, enthusiastic feedback, which led her to consider participating in the Farmers Market. Self-doubt crept in until Ramil talked her into it.
“It took me like a little while,” Nancy said, “to decide, ‘Am I going to do it?’ I was always thinking that nobody’s going to like it. Nobody’s going to buy it. And Ramil said, ‘I am sure they are going to love it.’ So I put in my application.”
Now in their third year at the market, Triple El Lumpia is named after the children who set everything in motion: Ella, Ellie, and Elon. And, as Ramil promised, the entry of Filipino food to the market was met with wide approval.
“Everybody was just so excited,” she said. “People came over and told us, ‘It’s about time for someone to have Filipino food here.’ Every week, we have new customers say, ‘Oh, we’re coming here because we heard that you guys have lumpia.’”
The base ingredients for this Philippine take on spring rolls are prepared the night before the market, with Nancy mixing ground chicken or pork with chopped veggies like carrots, celery, green beans, and cabbage, then adding the meat along with a seasoning similar to chicken bouillon.
On the day of the market, she pipes the mixture onto thin wrappers made of wheat and rice flour and rolls them into the familiar spring-roll shape. They are cooked to order, fried for six or seven minutes in oil heated to 365 degrees.
If the results are not the perfect finger food, then they are very, very close. The meat is compellingly savory, the shell is crisp and delicate, and the sauce it comes with, made from red bell peppers, jalapeño peppers, vinegar and red sugar, adds the sweet and heat that elevate the dish.
On any given Farmers’ Market day, the couple prepares, cooks and sells as many as 700 lumpia, with people jockeying for a place in line up to half an hour before the official start time. They can be ordered a la carte or accompanied by one of two side dishes that are just as authentically Filipino.
The first is stir-fried pancit, a dish similar to chow mein, with wonton noodles, cabbage, carrots and shredded chicken, which can be omitted as a vegetarian option. One difference between this and chow mein is that water is added to the pancit to finish it, making it moister and more tender.
The second is the diced pork adobo, which is first sautéed in garlic and oil, then simmered in soy sauce, vinegar, red sugar, bay leaves and seasonings, and steamed until soft. The simplicity of this and the other two dishes, Nancy said, is the key to Filipino food: fresh ingredients cooked quickly and seasoned lightly to preserve all flavors.
While they currently only have three products to offer, their ability to sell out every Wednesday at the Farmers’ Market, not to mention going through 1,000 lumpia at last year’s Kinship Seneca Food and Wine Tasting, has got the couple thinking about getting their own food truck.
That would allow them, Nancy said, to expand into different types of lumpia, like pork or vegetarian, and to offer other Philippine dishes—maybe even desserts. But for now, you can find their tent at the market every Wednesday from 3-7 p.m. through Oct. 21.
“I like it here,” Nancy said, “because it’s a very friendly environment. All the people from Hollister and the surrounding area have made us feel like this is our home.”
Triple El Lumpia can be contacted on Facebook.
Recommendations for future Eat, Drink, Savor articles can be emailed to roberteliason@benitolink.com.
BenitoLink thanks our underwriters, Hollister Super and Windmill Market, for helping expand the Eat, Drink, Savor series and for giving our readers the stories that interest them. Hollister Super (two stores in Hollister) and Windmill Market (in San Juan Bautista) support reporting on the inspired and creative people behind the many delicious food and drink products made in San Benito County. All editorial decisions are made by BenitoLink.
We need your help. Support local, nonprofit news! BenitoLink is a nonprofit news website that reports on San Benito County. Our team is committed to this community and providing essential, accurate information to our fellow residents. Producing local news is expensive, and community support keeps the news flowing. Please consider supporting BenitoLink, San Benito County’s public service nonprofit news.
You must be logged in to post a comment.