Turon fried banana eggrolls

Turón is a fried plantain banana in a springroll wrapper and coated with caramelized sugar popular in the Philippines and usually eaten as a snack or dessert. It is a common street food sold along bus and bike routes.

Turón is very much the fusion of Spanish colonization of the Philippines (hence the Spanish name) and the dominant Chinese presence in the country, that is why it resembles an eggroll. It is also my husband's favorite snack so I decided to learn how to make it after watching a friend make banana eggrolls at her home in Los Angeles. Although my friend used raw plantain bananas, I have opted to use the frozen steamed plantain bananas for my recipes.

Follow me in this easy step-by-step instructions to make fried banana rolls that will make your guests go bananas for more.

All photos were taken by Bakerwoman (that's me).

Plantains can be purchased raw in a bunch in the supermarket or pre-cooked as in the case of this recipe. I preferred the frozen version which is already steamed for convenience reasons. This package which I purchased from an Asian market had the petite version of the plantain bananas which were cultivated in the Philippines called saba. It is usually boiled, steamed or cooked just like potatoes due to its starchy consistency and sold by street vendors as snacks.

I defrosted the package by leaving it in the refrigerator overnight so these will be ready the next day.

Plantain has more Vitamin A and C than bananas and is starchy and low in sugar. It is often cooked, fried, baked or boiled just like potatoes or other vegetables in India, the Caribbean and West African cuisines. It is often mistaken for a green banana but is longer, has a thicker skin and is not normally eaten raw like bananas.

Springroll wrappers are made of rice and are paper-thin while eggroll wrappers are thicker. These are used interchangeably but are not really the same. I like to use springroll wrappers because these fry up the rolls to be crispier and not as oily.

When ready to be used, carefully separate the sheets of wrappers and lay on a clean plate or counter. I usually lay these in a diamond formation 4-5 at a time across my kitchen island butcherblock. This speeds up the rolling phase of the banana rolls especially if I am expecting guests that day. These wrappers are easy to separate without tearing and that is what I like about them. A word of caution though. These wrappers will dry out if not used right away. Unused wrappers can be put back in the freezer.

The packaged bananas come in different sizes. The smaller ones need to be cut lengthwise in halves, while the larger ones can be cut into thirds. This is to keep the banana rolls relatively the same size so these can cook evenly.

I decided to use the entire package because I was preparing this dessert for our July 4th guests in the evening.

Position a halved banana on the wrapper ( I put it semi-centered because there is more room here) and sprinkle 1 tsp. of brown sugar as shown. Roll the banana over and coat the other side. Slide the banana down closer to the bottom corner for the first fold.

I used my Cuisinart 10-inch skillet which always worked for me. But if you have a fryer or cast iron pan, that will work too.

Here I pushed my luck and fried 16 medium rolls at the same time. When the wrappers are slowly turning light golden brown, the sugar inside the wrappers would have started to melt and caramelize. This helps sweeten the low-sugar taste of plantain. Wear oven mitts for protection from the hot oil and use tongs to flip the rolls over.

Sprinkle the brown sugar into the hot oil until this caramelizes. Allow the melted bown sugar to coat the banana rolls for another 2-3 minutes. Do not keep the rolls in the oil longer than needed to prevent smoking and burnt rolls.

Drain rolls upright on a sieve set on top of sheets of paper towels on a plate. The rolls will stay piping hot for at least 30 minutes after these are fished out of the frying pan.

The plantain banana rolls will be crunchy and hot, cooled off with the refreshing combination of coconut ice cream. I purchased the coconut ice cream from the Asian food market only because the Haagen Daz Coconut-Pineapple ice cream was not available that day.

This is where one can get creative with the presentation. Drizzle with nutella, melted chocolate, or powdered sugar. I simply opted for a scoop of coconut ice cream on top of two crispy and sweet banana rolls.

Many Southeast Asian restaurants have their own versions of the fried banana dessert.

Wrapping and rolling the plantains will go faster if you can get a friend to assist. Or roll this up the day before and

keep in the refrigerator till needed the next day.

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Serves: 6-8