Turon - Filipino Banana Roll

Summer is upon us!  It's time to have fresh fruits and veggies, plug in the AC, and perhaps have a nice sangria to help keep you feeling refreshed.

With the heat and humidity that's part of the Boston summer, the boyfriend and I constantly have an issue with ingesting all the bananas before they start getting too ripe.  They go in our cereal or as a snack during the day.  But for some reason, there's always a couple of them left near the end that are just about to hit the point of no return.

While you can definitely make some really good banana bread, I wanted to share a Filipino recipe.

Turon is basically like an egg roll, but filled simply with banana or plantain and jackfruit, dipped in brown sugar.

What is jackfruit, you ask?  Well, aside from being the national fruit of Bangladesh, it's a sweet fruit that grows mainly in South and Southeast Asia.  It looks like this:

Jackfruit on the Tree

In the Philippines, the jackfruit is called langka.  The meat of the fruit is yellow and wraps around it's seeds.  It's probably not something you'd ever think of trying right off the bat.  And it's name sounds like you could use it as an insult.  But I cannot stress enough how the jackfruit DOES NOT taste or smell like durian.

So, onto the recipe!

Ingredients for 20 rolls:

• Jackfruit (can be bought in Asian markets, such as Super 88 here in Boston, in a jar)
• 5 Bananas (sliced in quarters)
• 20 Spring Roll Wrappers (can be bought in any Asian market.  If you find ones that are specifically for lumpia you're doing pretty well!  You can use the square shaped ones or the circular ones, but I prefer the circular ones)
•  1/2 cup of Brown Sugar or more as needed

Prepping

Instructions:
I recommend taking the spring roll wrappers out of the freezer (where they belong) about a half our before you start to prep.  This will prevent them from getting too stuck to each other.  I also recommend using them within a couple of weeks of buying them, only because they seem to get a bit more brittle as time goes on.

After cutting the bananas lengthwise, you can roll them in some brown sugar, though this is not necessary.

Place banana piece and small piece of jackfruit into folded out spring roll wrapper, about 1/4 from the bottom.  You can take a piece of jackfruit out of the jar and rip pieces of the fruit off, especially since a little goes a long way.  It gets a little messy, but it's delicious messy.

Nummy num nums

Start rolling, folding sides into the middle (if you've ever watched someone make a wrap or a burrito, it's similar to that).  To secure roll, use jackfruit juice or water.  You can then also roll the roll in the brown sugar, or you can sprinkle some on prior to frying.  If you don't want it to be too sweet, I would opt for either dipping the banana or the completed roll, but not both.  I will personally recommend dipping the completed roll, only because it gets caramelized in the process.

Waiting to be fried

Grab your wok or a frying pan with higher sides, and fill it with enough canola oil to have the rolls floating somewhat.  Fry away!

Fry, my pretties!

I usually spin them in the oil so that all of it is coated, but then I let it fry on one side for a couple of minutes.  Make sure you're able to keep watch over them, because you don't want them to get too fried.  When you start to see the bottom side browning, flip it over.  Be careful, and watch for oil splattering!  It's not a fun thing to learn about.

When they're done, prop them up in a bowl lined with a paper towel to absorb excess oil.  Let them cool for about a half hour.  Then enjoy, perhaps with a scoop of ice cream after you've enjoyed one on its own.

Yay! Turon!

Nutrition Facts:

Amount per Serving of 20 people
Calories 56 Calories from Fat 9