Banana lumpia is one of those foods that instantly transports me back home to Hawaii, where people bring huge aluminum trays of the stuff to parties and there’s never any left over at the end. Once, when I was working at Borders in high school, someone brought several dozen in, left to get napkins, and came back to find it all gone. We stood around, guiltily licking our fingers and acting busy.

Lumpia is typically fried, but since deep frying both scares me and makes me feel guilty, I modified the recipe by baking it in a very hot oven. The result is crispy on the outside, sweet and soft on the inside, and deeply satisfying.

Ingredients

Lumpia Wrappers:

1 cup flour

2 eggs

1 cup water

Filling:

2 regular bananas or 4 apple bananas (these are available in Hawaii, but I’m not sure if they grow anywhere else)

½ cup brown sugar

1 tablespoon cinnamon

Clues

Heat an 8-inch skillet on medium. Combine lumpia wrapper ingredients, and whisk until smooth.

Once the pan is hot, pour two tablespoons of the batter onto the pan and quickly lift it off the heat and swirl the batter to help it spread. It doesn’t have to be perfect, but it should make a 5 to 6-inch circle.

When the edges begin to lift off the pan, slide the wrapper onto a plate. You do not need to flip it. Continue until all the batter is used.

Peel the bananas and cut off the ends. Slice in thirds the short way, then in half lengthwise.

Mix the brown sugar and cinnamon. Roll each piece of banana in the sugar mixture, then place in the center of the lumpia wrapper. Fold the ends and the sides over like a burrito. Brush with egg. Continue until all the wrappers are filled.

Bake at 450-degrees for 15 minutes. Turn and bake 10 minutes.

Devour immediately.

-JOY UYENO

this post is part of the dumpling a day while i'm away guest blogger series. i'm in hong kong right now so i've gotten some awesome bloggers, photographers, and writers, to showcase delicious dumplings. if you're interested in being a dumpling guest blogger, send me a note at yeh.molly@gmail.com. yay!