Filipino Turon with Herb Butter Caramel

About This Recipe

Turon is a beloved Filipino street snack: ripe saba banana and often a strip of jackfruit, rolled in a thin lumpia wrapper and fried until the wrapper turns deeply golden and shatteringly crisp, with caramelized brown sugar clinging to the surface. This version finishes the fried rolls with a drizzle of browned butter caramel infused with fresh herbs like thyme, an unconventional but genuinely tasty modern touch against turon's usual straightforward sweetness. The technique for great turon is coating the banana in brown sugar before rolling, so the sugar caramelizes directly against the wrapper during frying rather than just sitting inside -- this is what creates turon's signature sticky, crackling shell. Rolling tightly and sealing the wrapper edges with a little water or cornstarch slurry keeps the banana from bursting out mid-fry. Served hot, ideally within minutes of frying while the shell is still audibly crisp, turon is a favorite Filipino merienda, sold from carts and eaten as a not-too-sweet dessert or afternoon snack.

Ingredients

Serves 6

• 4ripe saba or plantain bananas(halved lengthwise)
• 8lumpia or spring roll wrappers
• 0.5 cupbrown sugar
• 1 cupoil(for frying)
• 4 tbspbutter
• 2 sprigsfresh thyme
• 2 tbspbrown sugar(for the caramel sauce)
• 2 tbspheavy cream
• 1 tbspwater(for sealing wrappers)

Instructions

1. 1

   Coat the bananas

   Roll each banana half in brown sugar until well coated on all sides.

2. 2

   Wrap

   Place a banana half at one edge of a wrapper, fold the sides in, and roll tightly, sealing the final edge with a little water.

3. 3

   Heat the oil

   Heat oil in a wide pan over medium heat until shimmering, about 175°C (350°F).

4. 4

   Fry

   Fry the rolls in batches, turning occasionally, 3-4 minutes until deep golden and crisp. Drain on a wire rack.

5. 5

   Make the herb butter caramel

   In a small pan, melt butter with thyme sprigs over medium heat until it turns golden and smells nutty, about 3 minutes. Remove thyme, stir in brown sugar and cream, simmer 2 minutes until glossy.

6. 6

   Serve

   Drizzle the warm herb butter caramel over the hot turon and serve immediately.

Variations

• •

  Add a strip of ripe jackfruit alongside the banana inside the wrapper, the classic addition.

• •

  Skip the herb butter caramel for traditional plain turon, which is just as satisfying.

• •

  Serve with vanilla ice cream for a more dessert-forward presentation.

Storage

Best eaten immediately while crisp. Turon doesn't reheat well since the sugar shell softens, but can be refrigerated for a day and briefly re-fried or air-fried to recrisp.

Frequently Asked Questions