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Turon
Fried banana spring rolls
Caramel-coated banana and jackfruit spring rolls
Turon is the afternoon snack sold by vendors on every Filipino street corner, school gate and jeepney stop around three o'clock, often next to banana cue on bamboo skewers. A slice of saba banana and a strip of ripe jackfruit are rolled in a thin spring roll wrapper with brown sugar, then fried in oil that has more brown sugar sprinkled in it, so each roll comes out wrapped in a crackly, glassy caramel shell. It is eaten hot with your fingers, when the banana inside has turned soft and sticky. Saba is a short, firm cooking banana; ripe plantain is the closest substitute. Chef's tip: roll them tightly with no air pockets, or the caramel blows holes in the wrapper.
- Total time
- 25 min
- Difficulty
- easy
- Serves
- 4
Ingredients
- 4 saba bananas or ripe plantainspeeled and halved lengthways
- 3 ½ oz ripe jackfruitin strips, fresh or from a jar, drained
- 8 spring roll wrappersegg-free, about 20 cm square
- 4 oz brown sugar
- 1 tbsp waterfor sealing
- 1 ¾ cups vegetable oilfor frying
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Method
0/5 doneStep 1: Put 2 ⅛ oz brown sugar on a plate and roll each half of 4 saba bananas or ripe plantains in it until coated.
Step 2: Lay a 8 spring roll wrappers sheet diagonally on the board. Put a banana half across the lower corner, lay a strip of 3 ½ oz ripe jackfruit alongside it, fold up the bottom corner, fold in both sides and roll up tightly. Brush the last corner with 1 tbsp water to seal. Make 8.
Step 3: Heat 1 ¾ cups vegetable oil in a wide frying pan over a medium heat to about 350°F, until a piece of wrapper sizzles steadily but doesn't brown at once. Fry the rolls in batches for 3–4 minutes, turning, until light golden.
4 minStep 4: Sprinkle the remaining 2 ⅛ oz brown sugar into the oil around the rolls. It melts and turns to caramel within a minute; keep rolling the turon through it for 1–2 minutes so they are coated in a dark amber shell. Oil that is too hot is the common mistake: the sugar burns bitter before the banana softens.
2 minStep 5: Lift them out onto a rack or a buttered plate (not kitchen paper, which sticks to the caramel). Leave for 2 minutes so the shell sets hard, then eat while still warm.
2 min
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 330 kcal
- Protein
- 3 g
- Carbs
- 58 g
- Fat
- 11 g
- Fibre
- 3 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does turon take?
- About 25 minutes in total: 10 minutes to prepare and 15 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 4 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it vegan?
- Yes. It has no meat, fish, dairy or eggs.
- What can I use instead of brown sugar?
- White sugar + 1 tbsp molasses or treacle per 200g.
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