The next stop on Traveling Tastebuds takes us to Manila, Philippines for turon. Located in the South Pacific, the Philippines consists of approximately 7,640 islands with some of the most beautiful beaches in the world. Although only 2,000 of the islands are inhabited, there are several large cities including Manila, the capital, with a population of 1.8 million people. Foodies love to travel to Manila for the historic Walled City of Intramuros, delicious street food, museums and shopping. It is also a sister city to Winnipeg, Manitoba.
To celebrate Canada’s first ever Filipino Restaurant Month in April, we are sharing the recipe for turon. The fried banana rolls are a popular dessert or snack. The sweet “lumpia” isn’t as well known as the savoury egg roll type of snack, but it’s just as delicious. Saba bananas aren’t as sweet as typical bananas, but you can also use plantains if they aren’t readily available. You can sometimes find Saba bananas at Asian grocery stores. Turon is fairly simple to make. Why not try the recipe at home?
Ingredients:
- 6 Saba bananas or plantains
- 1 can of jackfruit in strips
- 1 cup of granulated cane sugar or brown sugar if preferred
- 1 bag pastry / lumpia wrapper
Optional Ingredients:
- 4 ounces dark chocolate
- 4 ounces heavy cream or dairy alternative such as oat or almond milk
- Pint of your favorite ice cream
Directions:
- Defrost pastry wrappers and separate the sheets.
- Peel all Saba bananas or plantains and cut lengthwise into 4 flat strips
- Cover one banana strip in sugar
- Place banana strip onto pastry wrapper
- Top with 4-5 strips of jackfruit
- Wrap pastry wrapper – sides in first, wrap up from the bottom and roll up
- With a simple sugar wash, brush the top of the wrapper with simple syrup and seal the turon
- Heat up vegetable oil in skillet or deep fry
- Fry until golden brown, stir and rotate as needed
- Plate onto a banana leaf for garnish and fragrance (optional)
For chocolate dipping sauce:
- Warm heavy cream or alternative in microwave or stove top to 130 degrees F. Mix with dark chocolate and whisk.
- Pour into dipping vessel.
- Add a scoop of your favorite ice cream. Enjoy!
