Turón Bites ~ A Spin on a Filipino Street Food Fave

As a little girl, I remember my Mom, grandmother, and aunts sitting around the kitchen table, telling stories, laughing and wrapping Turón. The ladies would expertly wrap sliced up plantain, jack fruit and sugar in spring roll wrapper, and fry them.

It was always a special treat and a family favourite.

Whenever I have this Filipino treat, I think of my family and my childhood.

I was so shocked to see the local Foodland had plantain!  I promised myself I’d only cook with local produce in my attempt to tread lighter on the earth, and also help support local farmers.  I couldn’t resist though.  I had picked up a few cans of jack fruit when I was in Ottawa recently and had Turon on the brain.

My aunt’s original recipe calls for large spring roll wrappers. Our local grocery store only carries the small wonton and egg roll wrappers.  From experience, I know that the egg roll wrappers get bubbly when fried.  That would be a definite no-no.  I settled on the wonton wrappers.  After all, we use what we have or have access to, right?

Ingredients:
1 large plantain, sliced
1 can jack fruit (slice the jack fruit into strips)
sugar to dust (white or brown sugar)
1 pkg spring roll wrappers (in this case, 2 pkgs wonton wrappers)
oil for frying

Instructions:
1. Slice plantain into small, thin slices. I did them about 3 inches long and 1/2 inch thick.
2. Drain jack fruit and slice 3/4 cm in thickness.
3. Take one won ton or spring roll wrapper and place 1 slice of plantain and 1 slice of jack fruit in centre.  Dust with sugar. Brown sugar works best for this treat. The caramelized brown sugar is lovely with the banana.
4. Wrap and form a “roll” by folding ends over the banana and jack fruit, using water to seal.
5. Repeat process until you have used up all the spring roll wrappers.
6. Heat a skillet or pan and add cooking oil. Add a few rolls, but be careful not to overcrowd pan. Cook until golden on med heat, then turn over. Keep cooking until other side is golden. It doesn’t take too long to cook.
7. Remove from pan and either place on plate with paper towel. Sprinkle sugar over top while still hot.

These are smaller than the original Turon. Perfect bite-sized treats for entertaining and also perfect for little ones, as I’ve noticed that the original size Turon can be a bit too much for little kids to eat.  Hubby, on the other hand, can eat his fair share of the original-sized Turon!

Enjoy! This is best when eaten hot!