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Turon: Banana Lumpia by Kirsten Acosta
Story and photos by Nick Canedo

While appetizers and the main course is savory, what people remember most about a three-course meal is the last thing to hit their tongue—the dessert! For St. Mary’s senior biology major Kirsten Acosta, there is not dessert better than one that comes from her Filipino roots.

While cooking is a hobby, Acosta’s true passion is dentistry.

“I’ve always been fascinated with teeth. When choosing a college, I didn’t want to leave my San Antonio, since it’s always been my home. When I found out St. Mary’s could put me on the track to dental school, I knew this place would be a good fit,” Acosta says.

Living at home while attending college, Acosta enjoys the home cooked dinner she gets after a long day at school.

“While I love the Mexican food that San Antonio has to offer, my favorite will always be Filipino because it’s my heritage.”

Acosta’s family has a tradition of the entire household contributing to dinner once they become teenagers. When she first started helping her family, she had a tough time meeting her parent’s cooking standards.

“At first, both my mother and father would yell at me that something wasn’t right. I was discouraged at first, but I wanted to be like the rest of my family and cook traditional Filipino dishes,” she says.

The first dish Acosta made by herself for her family was turon, a popular Filipino desert.

“My mom said it was the easiest thing to make, so she trusted me to do it.”

Also known as banana lumpia, turon is a popular street food among Filipinos.

“We used to eat it by itself, but it was my idea to eat it with ice cream. Now, turon and vanilla ice cream is pretty much the tradition for deserts in my household,” Acosta says.

Ingredients

For 10 turons:

• Five bananans
• Bowl full of water
• ½ c of golden brown sugar
• ½ c of white sugar
• 10 spring roll wrappings
• Paper towel
• Plate

Directions
Create quarter long bananas by cutting them in half, then cutting them lengthwise. Dip each one in water, then mix a little golden brown sugar and white sugar together and sprinkle over top wet bananas. Wrap two quarter long bananas in each spring roll wrapping, then tap some water on spring roll and sprinkle sugar mixture over top (this will create “clean” but sugary tops).  Deep-fry the wrappings until golden and transfer to paper towel on a plate to absorb oil.

Filed under: Class Projects, Desserts, Recipes | Tagged: banana, banana lumpia, dessert, filipino, food, kirsten acosta, lumpia, nick canedo, St. Mary's University, tasteofstmu, turon |