Saba Bananas, Fried Bananas
Food to me is what shoes and purses are to many women. But instead of visiting a department store to fill a craving, I go to supermarkets and restaurants. When I want food, I want it now.
Oh, that sounded a little demanding. But I’m being honest here. Sometimes I get fixated on having a particular food and the next thing you know, I’m out the door. Such was the case with these Saba Bananas. I had heard about Turon, a Filipino snack of saba bananas coated in brown sugar, tucked into spring roll wrappers, and then deep-fried.
Because deep-frying is so much more interesting than eating these bananas as they are. Sure, they taste like regular bananas, but they also cost about 20 cents to 40 cents more a pound than them.
Anyway, back to my latest food-fixation story. I had heard about Turon, the fat little (you know what I mean) deep-fried bundles of goodness, and had to try them. So naturally I hopped in my car and drove to a Filipino restaurant 15 minutes away.
When I entered the restaurant, my eyes immediately landed on the steam-table offerings, and I consequently got distracted by them. That Adobo (pork or chicken simmered in vinegar and soy sauce) looks good. So does that Picadillo (ground beef, peas, and carrots in tomato sauce). Wait, what did I come here for?
“Do you have something made with saba bananas?” I asked the lady behind the counter.
“You mean Turon? No, we don’t have that,” she replied.
So I walked away disappointed, but with a new mission. Because while I stood in the restaurant waiting for the lady to box up my order of Chicken Adobo, I remembered a place that I had bought fried bananas from before.
Twenty minutes after leaving the Filipino restaurant, I had an order of these babies from a Hawaiian joint in the food court of an Asian supermarket.
Okay, they weren’t Turon, but instead regular bananas dipped in coconut milk, coconut-meat shavings, and then deep-fried. They were tasty—all crunchy coating and sweet, mushy filling—and that’s what really matters, right?
Ok, these little bananas look fabulous!! I’m getting hungry…
Oh, dear Goodness! Those little coconut banana fritter things look positively EVIL! My waistline is *not* going to thank Pioneer Woman for leading me into your temptations. My tongue, however, is already screaming “Woo Hooo!!”
Carrie: The fritters tasted even better the next day, after I’d heated them in the microwave.
Oh my goodness! Now, I’ve been spoiled with turon, as it’s my mama’s favorite fried delight and we pick some up everytime we visit the Filipino store, but the images and description of that coconut-banana fritter has got me drooling. How the heck am I going to find that in NYC?!
KP: I got the fried bananas from a Hawaiian restaurant, I don’t know if that helps. Where am I going to find turon?! Ha, I guess we’re two girls living on two opposite coasts of the U.S., one searching for fried bananas, the other for turon.
Turon is pretty simple to make; it’s as easy as your description and hard to mess up, really! One trick is to make sure you buy Filipino lumpia/spring roll wrappers that fry up smooth and crispy, not bubbly and crunchy like wontons. Or, if you’d rather buy them, I can help you find a place close to you that sells them, especially if you’re in the Bay Area. Some Filipino bakeries sell them as well.
Other types of banana frittery things can be found in Thai/Cambodian/Singaporean restaurants.
Dee: It’s good to know that turon is hard to mess up. That is, until I remember that it’ll be me making it. I appreciate your advice, and I’m sure others do as well.
is it meat on the center?
yeah!! what is on the center of this yummy mouth watering fritters? may i ask for a recipe? please? pretty please?