In Fogtown, the mysterious Lumpia Man (Mark Muñoz ) has perfected the ultimate lumpia — and he’s not afraid to use it. Patricio Ginelsa follows up on his Filipino American cult classic “Lumpia” with “Lumpia With a Vengeance,” showing the iconic eggroll in the limelight once again. This time, the stakes are much higher – and more delicious – than ever before. On the occasion of the film’s NYC premiere through the Asian American International Film Festival, we take the time to talk to Ginelsa about the power of lumpia.

Let’s start with the obvious. Why lumpia?

For Filipinos, lumpia is the defining food. For [my brother and I], it all started when we were fans of this movie “El Mariachi” (1992) by Robert Rodriguez, done before “Desperado” (1995). It’s this low-budget, Mexican action film that uses a guitar as a weapon. My brother said, “What would be the Filipino version of ‘El Mariachi’?” The best...