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.
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I made these 5 years ago for Christmas and still think about them! They are indeed a labor of love but oh so worth it! Thanks for sharing ♥️
Alana Altmann
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
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 10 1x
Description
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.
- Prep Time: 15 mins
- Cook Time: 45 mins
- Category: Dessert
- 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.
Wow, it is quite a process, isn’t it. I have a couple of recipes like that, ones I put off from making but then immediately praise myself upside down and backwards when I go trough with it. Mine is my gluten-free naan. Man, I could live off the stuff but it takes quite a long time. I triple the batch usually… But it’s never enough!!
Those look amazing! I wonder if wonton wrappers would work for those of us who might not be able to find lumpia wrappers?
Great idea Teresa! I meant to mention that in the post but I forgot. What I’ve read is that they are actually made from different flours (regular for wontons vs. rice flour in lumpia) but they should work interchangeably. 🙂
Rice papper wrappers and lumpia is same thing? Thanks
Not exactly but it might be the closest you can find depending on where you live.
Thanks Lindsay, I’m in Canada will try to find lumpia wrappes.
Nope
wonton wrappers would be too thick.
btw, this is called “turon”, actually, not banana lumpia.
lumpia is the name for savory versions of the dish where we put either lightly sauteed vegetables (lumpiang gulay), or ground pork (lumpiang baboy), or fish flakes (lumpiang isda) in the wrappers. the savory version usually accompanies rice and may be dipped in ketchup or whatnot, depending on your preference.
you could speed up the process of making turon by putting the sugar together with the banana inside the wrapper instead of making a caramel dip, or you can just caramelize the sugar in deep boiling oil and fry the wrapped bananas in it while continuously stirring. you may also include slivers of jackfruit together with the banana inside.
i personally like my lumpia with the sugar and jackfruit inside along with the banana.
by the way, you don’t have to cut the bananas into tiny pieces. traditionally, you just cut it lengthwise and use one half of the banana for one turon. and it’s quicker that way too.
Funny my sister is visiting at the moment and our ‘adventurous thing’ is doing an aerobics dvd and making cardamom cookies. I like your ideas a whole lot more.
Yes! That’s awesome.
These look amazing! I would love that coconut sauce over ice cream……..yum.
Holy cow! That looks absolutely sinful, bananas & coconut caramel sauce sounds like heaven to me.
I bet the time and effort was worth the end results.
Mmm what a treat!!
Your story reminded me of the day I went searching for a live yeast cake to make my very own pain au chocolat. It was quite the process too (rolling, butter, folding, butter, chilling, rolling, butter, continue), but I can completely relate to the idea of losing yourself in something. If I can’t find the lumpia wrappers, I’m happy to lose my face in that sauce!
Omg. The coconut caramel sauce is genius!! I’ve always liked the idea of turon, but the excess sweetness prevented me from loving it so much. (In a traditional turon not only is there brown sugar inside the lumpia, but IN the oil so the lumpia will caramelize on the outside when it fries. Yikes!) The caramel sauce is the PERFECT way to control how sweet you want the turon, which is great news for me! Might have to convince my mom to cook turon the ‘Pinch of Yum’ way the next time she decides to make it 😉
To me, what makes traditional turon genius, is the brown sugar in the oil, which turns into a caramel and coats the rolls. It results in the turon having 2 different surface textures. It’s tricky to get it right though, so making a stovetop caramel is easier for the beginner. Plantains are also a great substitute for bananas, and would hold up better to the heat of the frying.
Do you put the brown sugar on the outside of the wrappers then, instead of the inside? Or directly into the oil? I’ve made banana que with the aunties and kids, and we just did bananas, brown sugar caramelized on the outside, but with no wrapper, and it was SO good! So I know exactly what you’re talking about with the brown sugar turning into a delicious caramel. 🙂
You put the brown sugar on the inside, together with the banana. If you can find some langka (jackfruit), you can line them up next to each other with the banana for a more sinful snack.
These look absolutely amazing! I know what you mean about being intimidated by rolling and frying something in a paper-thin wrapper… but definitely an awesome recipe to save for a rainy day!
Sweet baby bananas, coconut brown sugar sauce, fry oil, yeah, I can totally get on board.
Great pic of the little kayak/boat, too. Glad you lived on the edge!
i want to go kayaking! i am too much of a chicken, though. 🙂 nice pic!
we LOVE fried bananas, too! im gonna have to add some of that coconut caramel sauce next time. looks like you should jar it and sell it! looks so yummy.
I cannot wait to try this out! Thank you, thank you for posting this recipe! =)
That sauce! As I read about it, all I could think of was ice cream…and then you had that same thought at the end of your post. And on the weirder end of the spectrum, I wonder how an ear of salted sweet corn would do dipped in it. I had an ear of corn with this maple butter last summer, and now I keep dreaming of salty/sweet corn combinations. #unecessarybutgood
Yes! I had some thoughts of combining this with something salty. Totally into the corn idea.
We used to buy banana turon at the market when we’d buy groceries {I lived in the Philippines when I was 12}. It is AMAZING. Something I don’t think I’ll be able to reproduce over here {the little baby finger bananas are soooooo sweet}. Thank you for the photos. I am totally salivating all over myself now. 😉
yes!! I can’t wait. We have over 100 banana trees on our property and I’m always looking for new ways to use the bananas. (they are actually apple bananas, but work fine in any banana recipe.)
this looks so good!!
Always love your posts, thank you!!
WHAT!? 100 banana trees? Apple bananas? Wow. Sounds amazing.
i love lumpia. love. them. so…..just to clarify….i use the coconut milk, unflavored/unsweetened, that comes in the carton….NOT the stuff….i think it’s cream of coconut or something….that comes in the can, right? also, i was fortunate, the first couple of times that i made lumpia to actually find the in a philippean grocery store along with banana catsup. alas….the place has gone out of business. so…..wonton wrappers may be too heavy, right? is there an acceptable solution here for the lack of lumpia wrappers?
Wow! Cool about the Filipino grocery store. I used full-fat coconut milk from a can to make the sauce. Wonton might be a little heavier, but I think it could still work. Otherwise you could make your own! I’ve seen a few recipes for lumpia wrappers out there.
Hi. I am Filipina and I just have to comment on this. Please, wonton wrapper, even eggroll wrapper for that matter, won’t work for this lumpia. They are too thick and won’t result to the crispness you need for this to be ultra delicious.
Delicious recipe Lindsey. Try adding a wedge of cream cheese with the banana…so good! It melts when frying and sort of balances the sweetness a bit.
I had no idea what lumpia was until this post…stuff it with bananas, wrap it, crisp it, dip it in caramel…YUM!
They can also be savory, like an egg roll, but I can’t resist the sweetness of these!
Oh man…these bring back sweet memories of my childhood in Guam, where I had lots of Filipino friends who would made lumpia and pancit and mung bean soup of all kinds for all occasions. I can taste these banana lumpia in my mouth right now. Wondering where I can find fresh lumpia wrappers. right. now.
Aw, what fun memories!
I’m a Filipino, so everytime I go home, I amke sure I buy tons and freeze so I have a stock of lumpia wrappers at home.
@Teresa, I’ve been eating this thing for the last 30 years of my life, and can guarantee you that although wonton would work, there’s nothing like the crunch and crisp of rice flour lumpia wrappers!
Good to know Luchie! Thanks!
I absolutely love lumpia! It doesn’t hurt that I’m half Filipino. I’ve never tried a DESSERT lumpia before, what a great recipe! Lumpia can be a very difficult thing to make by your lonesome, especially in a hot kitchen. Way to go!
OMG – i just found your blog and LOVE it. I have more recipes to try than i have time for! I’m a fellow Minnesotan, although about 45 South of the cities – so hello from MN!!
Hi Patty! Hope you’re holding up in that winter weather! 🙂
Those lumpias looks really good and like something that would be fun to make on the weekend for a potluck!
That looks fantastic. I cannot wait to try this one out.
Ooooo, those look amazing. And now I will be forever browsing my local Asian markets for lumpia wrappers… too bad they’re so hard to get in small cities in the U.S.!
I suppose I could just make that sauce and pour it over some wrapper-less deep-fried bananas?!
I also kind of want to try drizzling it over homemade popcorn… 🙂
That sounds about right!
Ah! So glad you made them, but so jealous I was not there. Looks good Lindsay 🙂
Thanks for helping me buy all the ingredients. I wish you would have been there to share them! I ended up just passing them around to my neighbors. 🙂