Fried Bananas

I found a pile of plantains heaped haphazardly in a box at the end of an aisle in a humble store in Chinatown. Unlike all the other fruits stacked in military precision and given enviable display areas-- apples, pears, oranges, grapefruits, even the regular bananas -- the homely plantains looked sorry and neglected. They were brown and no longer in bunches but in one-offs, and left in a crumpled, dog-eared box on the floor. I was thrilled to find them. The brown thing is good. I know they look like they were near rotten, but in fact, it was just the right degree of ripeness.

I took home three bananas and tried to reproduce the deep fried bananas of my youth. This is how my Mom made it: slice the bananas in half, then in flat pieces about 1/4 inch thick; next, spread out a spring roll wrapper on the counter, sprinkle a little sugar in the middle, add one of the banana slices then fold one side of the wrapper up over the banana, fold in the sides and roll up until the banana is tightly bundled. These little bundles then get fried.

The spring roll wrap turns gold and crispy, a nice contrast to the creamy caramelized banana middle. Not too sweet. Not too heavy. Just what I needed that day. Just one thing though: the finished products do not keep well. The wrapper turns soggy even when kept in an airtight container in the fridge. Best to only make what you can eat in one sitting.