I was going to make this last week. With my sisters.
Cause it’s kind of a Filipino thing and I wanted to be a good Philippines host and everything.
But we did this instead, which is like the most adventurous thing I’ve done in the last 6 months. Woohoo! I live on the edge.
I’ve actually been meaning to make banana lumpia (aka turon) since I saw it in a Filipino cookbook a few months ago. A FEW MONTHS AGO. It’s one of those recipes that you almost just… don’t want to make. I mean, you do, and you know you’re going to love it when it’s all said and done, buuut do I really have to? Because it involves finding something new – lumpia wrappers – at the grocery store, and then pulling apart those paper-thin, or actually, thinner than paper lumpia wrappers, which could make anyone look and feel like a fool. Plus it involves frying. Which, in the Philippines, also involves sweating and changing clothes for the 8th time this morning and makeup melting off my face. Can’t eat it for lunch tomorrow, makes a mess, and generally makes me feel like I have no cooking skills. It’s not all that practical.
The thing is, I had a kitchen full of super sweet baby bananas, lumpia wrappers, and coconut milk left over from my sisters thinking we could squeeze some lumpia frying into our crazy week. It’s like they planned on dropping the stuff and just leaving the country to see what I would do with all of it. Ha ha to me.
So I was definitely forced to make it.
And hellooooooo.
Once I got started, I just sort of lost myself in the process of rolling and frying these little guys. A little music in the background, the front door open, fan blowing directly on me, just thinking about life {read: coconut caramel sauce} and taking it all in. It was one of those times where I had absolutely no concept of what time it was when I finished because I didn’t need to be anywhere. Sigh.
Can we get more of those times?
So let’s talk about the moment that I first dipped my face in coconut sauce.
It was also the same moment that I stood over the stove, stirring it, which was actually about 30 moments. I am conservatively calculating that I liked my daily calories in sweet brown sugar coconut sauce off of that wooden spoon.
Realistically, you guys are not going to make this tonight unless you are some sort of extremely ambitious cook who also happens to have lumpia wrappers and bananas and coconut milk laying around the kitchen. What you should do is save this for a day when you can lose yourself in something. Like, for example, something sweet and soft and wrapped in super light thinner-than-paper layers of golden brown crispiness. That paper thin-ness that made me the world’s clumsiest cook 3 seconds ago? I LOVE IT when it’s fried. It’s so thin and delicate and perfectly crispy.
And I sincerely, with all my heart, hope you make this sauce just so you can lick the wooden spoon more than is appropriate. Or just try not to and let me know how that goes for you {evil villain laugh}. It’s so sweet, so creamy and dark, so perfectly simple.
I feel faint.
Banana Lumpia {Turon} with Coconut Caramel Sauce
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Total Time: 1 hour -
Yield: 10
Print Recipe
Pin RecipeDescription
This banana lumpia is my take on a tasty Filipino treat! Bananas, fried in lumpia wrappers with brown sugar, and covered with caramel. Includes a video!
Ingredients
- 10 small bananas
- 20 fresh lumpia wrappers
- 1–2 cups oil for frying
- 1 cup coconut milk
- 3/4 cup brown sugar
- water
Instructions
- Pour the coconut milk into a medium saucepan over low heat. Heat until bubbling slightly, about 5 minutes. Add the brown sugar and stir until smooth. Thicken the sauce to your desired consistency by keeping it at a low boil and stirring very frequently. I kept mine on the heat for almost 30 minutes. It thickens slightly as it cools, but you should be able to see it thickening in the pan as well.
- Steam the lumpia wrappers for a few minutes to soften them and make them easier to pull apart. I just held mine over the top of the steaming sauce pan for a few minutes.
- Peel the bananas and cut them in half lengthwise. Place the banana on the lumpia wrapper. If they are still too long to fit inside your lumpia wrappers, cut the ends off or cut them in half again. Dip your fingers in water and run them along the edge of the lumpia wrapper to make them easier to fold. Fold the top and bottom over the banana, and then roll it sideways, sealing the banana inside and using a little more water to make the wrapper stick together.
- Heat the oil in a large skillet or frying pan over low heat. When water sizzles across the top, add the lumpia, a few at a time, and fry for 3-5 minutes on each side or until golden brown and crispy. Drain on paper towels and allow to cool for 10 minutes. Serve with the dipping sauce.
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Prep Time: 15 mins
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Cook Time: 45 mins
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Category: Dessert
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Cuisine: Filipino
Keywords: banana lumpia, lumpia, filipino banana lumpia
How To Make Our Banana Lumpia:
Would it be wrong to say that I’m having visions of that sweet, dark, coconut caramel sauce poured over ice cream and sliced bananas?
Someone please make that happen and get back to me.
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