Turon con Langka Espesyal

Special Banana Springrolls with Sweetened Jackfruit

Turon con Langka Espesyal

Have you been craving for something deliciously sweet lately? Try our version of Turon con Langka Espepyal! (Special Banana Springrolls with Sweetened Jackfruit)

It is a sweet dessert that is famous in the Philippines typically made with banana, brown sugar and spring roll or lumpia wrappers. The variety of banana used for turon is called saba which is very common in the Philippines. If you are not familiar with this banana variety and would like to google it, it is otherwise known as the cooking banana or Cardaba banana. Click HERE for more info on saba banana from Wikipedia. It is usually available at Asian Stores.

Because it is cheap to make and of its good taste, turon are among the popular street foods here in the Philippines. With just 5 pesos, you can already buy 1 roll from street vendors!

If you are a Filipino, I guess you would understand me if I say that street foods are delicious, tipid (frugal) and fun! But one issue that I have to point out though with streetfood is cleanliness. There are a number of illnesses that we can get from improper food preparation and some might land us a trip to the hospital. My point is, be a little cautious when buying.

Anyway, the good news is, turon are very easy to make so if you don't want to buy from street vendors, you can always prepare it yourself. You can even prepare it and store some for another day. I will share a simple tip for better storage, later.

This recipe of turon is my mom's version. I remember how delicious and mouth-watering the turons are from UST canteen and my mom tried to copy them and this is now our version.

INGREDIENTS:
- 20 pcs lumpia (spring roll) wrappers
- 10 pcs saba banana (saging saba)
- brown sugar
- 1 cup raw
jackfruit (langka) cut into 1/2 inch strips
- 1 cup water
- Vanilla extract for flavoring (optional)
- 2 cups cooking oil

STEPS:
1. First things first so we have to cook the jackfruit before everything else. In a small pot, put the water, 1/3 cup brown sugar and 2 drops of vanilla extract and mix well then add in the jackfruit strips. Bring to a boil over low heat, stirring occasionally to avoid getting burnt. Let the liquid turn syrupy or slightly thickened and allow the jackfruit to absorb the flavor. Remove from heat and cool down.
2. Cut each banana into halves, lengthwise.
3. Now for the wrapping part, place one banana slice at the center of the lumpia wrapper. Spread 1 teaspoon of brown sugar on top of the banana and add 2 strips of sweetened langka.
4. Fold the wrapper over the banana, tuck in the sides and roll. Close the edge of the wrapper with water.
5. Once done with the wrapping, heat the oil in a deep frying pan.
6. Fry about 4 to 5 banana rolls and wait until slightly brown.
7. Scoop 1 tbsp of brown sugar and pour onto the frying rolls. Do not mix it. Just wait for it to caramelize. Once it turns into a caramel, flip the rolls to let coat them with caramelized sugar.
8. Drain excess oil then they are ready to be served.

Now, earlier I mentioned about a little tip for storage. What we do is to skip the part where we put sugar, during the wrapping (step 3). If you plan to prepare ahead, just do not put sugar on them while wrapping. The problem is that when sugar is added, they will become sticky and destroy the wrappings so skipping that part lets you prepare them beforehand. Then when you want to fry them, just add sugar during this part (step 7).

So I hope you enjoy this and let me know how yours went. Happy eating!

I'd like to hear from you! What do you guys think about my post? Your comments and suggestions are very much welcome and appreciated! Or if you'd like to request a recipe, please let me know. Thanks!


TAGS: Between You and Cherry, Cherry Yutuc, Panlasang Pinoy, Pampanga, Lutong Kapampangan, Budget friendly, Cooking Tips, Pampanga's Best, Recipe, Pampanga Cuisine, Cook from Pampanga, Philippines, Asian Food, Pinoy Food, Streetfood, Dessert, Turon, Langka

Homemade Tacos

Today, I will be sharing how to make homemade, delicious Mexican Tacos.

This is yet again another favorite for me. This is our own version of the famous mexican classic, a delicious Mexican food that is flavorful and spicy that's guaranteed to satisfy your appetite.

The ingredients that we used are pocket-friendly without sacrificing the taste and quality. For example, instead of taco shells that can be bought from the market, we used lumpia wrappers. The lumpia wrappers are cheaper but equally crunchy and good tasting.

What's more is that it's guilt free! You can have big servings of it and you don't need to feel guilty about it. It's low in carbohydrates and high in fiber, vitamins and minerals. Good for our health, our tastebuds and our tummy, too! Hope you'll like it!


INGREDIENTS:
- 1 whole cabbage
- 10 pcs slightly ripened tomatoes
- 2 cucumbers
- 1 180g pack cheddar cheese, grated
- 20 pcs lumpia wrapper
- 1/2 cup cooking oil

For the Taco Meat:
- 1/2 kilo ground pork or beef (I only used pork)
- 2 tbsp cooking oil
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 medium onion
- 1 tbsp atsuete powder
- 4 tbsp water
- 3 tbsp taco mix
- salt and pepper, to taste

For the Taco Sauce:
- 500 mL water
- 1/2 cup sweet and spicy banana ketchup (UFC)
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 2 tbsp cornstarch
- pinch of salt, to taste
- chili powder (optional only and adjust according to desired spiciness)


STEPS:
1. Mix well all the ingredients for the taco sauce in a small pot. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring occasionally until thickened. Set aside.
2. Slice the cabbage thinly. The thinner, the better [as shown in the picture at the right]. Set aside. Note: I like the cabbage better than the lettuce because of its taste and crunchiness but you may use lettuce.

3. Dice the cucumbers and tomatoes as displayed in the pictures. Set aside.
4. Next, we will saute the taco meat but first, we need to dissolve the atsuete powder in 4 tbsp water, set aside. In a medium skillet, heat the oil then fry the garlic into golden brown. Add the onions and let it caramelize then add the ground pork, atsuete mix, taco seasoning then add salt and pepper to taste. Stir occasionally until well done. Set aside.
5. In this step, we will fry the lumpia wrappers so that they will resemble the commercially available taco shells. I like to prepare the wrappers at the last part, just before serving the tacos, because I want them really crunchy. In a frying pan, heat about 4 tbsp of oil over low heat only because the wrappers cook very quickly. Using your kitchen tongs, hold half of the wrapper upward while letting the other half fry flattened in the pan, until golden brown. Then turn the wrapper so that you will be holding the fried half and curve it at a 45 degree angle and let the other half fry flat into a golden brown. When done, place in a drying rack to drain excess oil. Continue doing this until you are done with the 20 wrappers.
6. Now, all that's left to do is assemble the tacos! Get one taco shell, put 2 spoonfuls of cabbage at the bottom, 1 tbsp each of cucumber and tomatoes, 2 tbsp of taco meat then top with cheese. Serve with sauce on the side.

Tadaaah! And that is our homemade version of the famous tacos. It's quick, easy on the pocket and delicioso!

So I hope you enjoy this and let me know how yours went. Happy eating!

I'd like to hear from you! What do you guys think about my post? Your comments and suggestions are very much welcome and appreciated! Or if you'd like to request a recipe, please let me know. Thanks!


TAGS: Between You and Cherry, Cherry Yutuc, Panlasang Pinoy, Pampanga, Lutong Kapampangan, Budget friendly, Cooking Tips, Pampanga's Best, Recipe, Pampanga Cuisine, Cook from Pampanga, Philippines, Asian Food, Pinoy Food, Mexican Food, Homemade

Creamy Mango Cooler

Hello! How's are you feeling this summer? Here in the Philippines, summer officially started just a week ago but the heat is already like "whoah!!!" Lol.

Anyway, instead of feeling irritated because of the heat, we tried to squeeze the fun out of the season and just let things cool down with summer activities such as swimming! My little girl just loves it!

Here in Pampanga, we have beautiful resorts. We have our own version of Boracay named PORACAY which has white sand also. This is located in Porac, Pampanga, hence its name. We also have Fontana Leisure Parks and Casino, Villa Alfredo's Resort (which is a paradise!) and Villa Antonina's among the many others. Maybe I will write a seperate blog on this topic because we sure have a lot of resorts here. What better way to cool down than to swim, eh?

So anyway, speaking of cooling down, today, we were kinda craving for halo-halo. But then we were just too lazy to go out of our way to buy the ingredients from the market so instead, we went to a grocery nearby and found gulaman (gelatin; jelly) and mango flavored pearl powder. An idea popped out of my mind and so we bought one of each plus one can of evaporated creamer and went home. And the rest is history. Lol!

Of course, halo-halo will always be delicious. But then if you want to try something new, something frugal (tipid) and something easier to make then I suggest the Creamy Mango Cooler. It's refreshingly cool!


INGREDIENTS:
- 1 15g pack gulaman (gelatin/ jelly) powder, clear or yellow color
- 1 ripe mango cheek, flesh cut into small chunks (optional)
- mango flavored pearl or juice powder
- 500 mL water (about 2 cups)
- 1/3 cup evaporated creamer
- 5 tbsp table sugar
- ice
- rice crispies

STEPS:
1. Dissolve the gelatin according to instructions, add mango chunks and 2 tbsp sugar (adjust according to desired sweetness), mix well then cook as instructed. Once set, cut into 1 inch strips. Set aside.
2. In a blender, put 2 cups water, 4 tbsp mango powder, 1/3 cup evaporated cleamer, mango chunks, 3 tbsp sugar and 2 cups ice. Blend well into a smoothie.
3. Pour into a glass, top with mango gelatin and rice crispies. Then it's ready to be served!

Creamy. Delicious. Refreshing. Easy to make. Gulp! Gulp! Gulp!

So I hope you enjoy this and let me know how yours went. Happy summer!

I'd like to hear from you! What do you guys think about my post? Your comments and suggestions are very much welcome and appreciated! Or if you'd like to request a recipe, please let me know. Thanks!

TAGS: Between You and Cherry, Cherry Yutuc, Panlasang Pinoy, Pampanga, Kapampangan, Budget friendly, Cooking Tips, Pampanga's Best, Recipe, Cook from Pampanga, Philippines, Asian Food, Pinoy Food, Summer, Hot Weather, Thirst Quencher, Samalamig, Mango