Turon ( Banana Spring Rolls )

The morning news was a bit disconcerting, the city mayor, in his press conference yesterday expressed concerns about celebrating the culmination activities for Kadayawan Festival scheduled on the 17th, (  Indak-Indak sa Kadalanan ) Street Dancing and 18th, ( Pamulak Festival ) Floral Float Parade. This is largely due to the recent bombings that rocked Cagayan De Oro City, Cotabato City, Maguindanao and Midsayap in the last few days of July and early August. The Mayor is seriously mulling about scrapping the last two major events lined up for Kadayawan and says he will announce his final decision on August 13. Everything else hangs in the balance between now and August 13. So sad! But I also understand his concern for the safety and security of guests and tourists as well as residents of the city. Checkpoints are stricter in all the entry and exit points, ports and airports but still, we cannot be too careful,  even with the Hall of Famer Davao City Police Office and multi-awarded Senior Police Superintendent Ronald De La Rosa heading the police force.

P/Supt Ronald De la Rosa with City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte photo credit SunStar Davao

When I went downtown the other day and riding public transport called jeepneys, some passengers were talking about Kadayawan choreographers who practice their dances as soon as the last buntings of a recently concluded festival is swept away. Meaning; they prepare for one whole year for the dances and choreography. Some schools have participants practicing 4 to 8 pm daily until the actual competition. I was blown away at the lengths people would go to, to win these festival competitions. But realize though, that prizes run for hundreds of thousands of pesos.

Jeepneys

Also in the news was an elementary public school which won the Sayaw Mindanao competition during the Araw ng Dabaw. Kapitan Tomas Monteverde Elementary School showed the dance props and materials they were making for the Indak-indak entry of the school. They were actually making 7 paper mache horses, a paper mache coconut tree, and several other ethnic items. The school had spent a whopping 70 grand for the costumes and props alone. Whoa! talk about making a career in street dancing! On the other hand, you can also glean from these frantic preparations how Davaoenos value this festival and pull out all stops, to make it worth packing your bags and travelling thousands of miles to watch,doesn't it?

Sayaw Mindanao competitors

Today, we will be making Turon,  a common snack item usually peddled along the streets and usually seen in the afternoons only. Of course this can be served as dessert, but because of the prep time, you will want to do this for afternoon snacks still. There is a very big likelihood that you will get to eat these when you visit anyways, so here's your sampling.

Let's make Turon!

Turon

INGREDIENTS:

6 - 10 pieces ripe Saba bananas
spring roll wrapper ( lumpia wrapper )
strips of ripe jackfruit
brown sugar
1-2 inches of cooking oil in a deep fryer

PROCEDURE:

1. After peeling the bananas, slice them into halves lengthwise. Prepare the spring roll wrappers by separating them into individual sheets.

2. Lay a spring roll wrapper on a plate, center a banana half, cut side up on it.  Put 1-2 strips of jackfruit, sprinkle sugar on top and cover with the other banana half.

3. Fold over the other end of the wrap on the banana and fold the sides toward the center, just like wrapping a spring roll. Seal with water towards the end. Do the same for the rest of the bananas.

4. Heat several inches of oil in a deep pan. When hot enough, lower to medium heat, deep-fry the banana spring rolls for about 5-7 minutes each side. At this point, you might want to sprinkle brown sugar onto the oil. When the brown sugar has melted and floated on top, swirl the Turon to coat with the sugar syrup. You may also choose to make the sugar syrup separately when making a big batch so the sugar doesn't burn.

Turon

5. Serve hot! Be careful, though, the inside part is hotter than the crispy outer wrap. Believe me when I say that this is one of the simplest, but most satisfying snacks you'll ever sink your teeth into. Leave a comment if you tried this and agree!

Credits to Flickr and other sources for the pics. So sad, my camera phone still is in no condition to upload pics. Hope to get them up and going for the Kadayawan Festival, though.

By the way, the bananas to use are not your table bananas but the saba or cardava variety which needs cooking. Below is a picture of Cardava banana. These are usually boiled, or served as Minatamis na Saging ( sweetened with sugar ) as Maruya ( Fried bananas) and as Turon.

cooking bananas