Tucked Away Turon

Tucked away in an unassuming part of Cerritos lies Kape Republik, home of the baked turon and other Filipino-Euro fusion delicacies.  I had a brief, though endearing, conversation with one of the owner’s parents on a sunny Sunday afternoon.  Clearly, a love for their daughter and appreciation of her talents lay beneath the dialogue about food; but the approach to clean, quality ingredients and an eye toward elegantly simple aesthetics make Kape Republik an experience all its own. A number of delicious-looking pastries caught my eye at first glance but the intention of my visit today was to taste one thing and one thing alone – the baked turon.  Turon, typically made of bananas, jackfruit, and brown sugar in a spring roll wrap, is as delicious as it is a popular snack food.

But it is quite atypical of Turon to be baked into a pastry.  The move toward baking Turon inside a pastry shell reminds me that remnants of Philippine colonial heritage are still found in Philippine cuisine; yet there’s no denying that this is novel, which makes Kape Republik one of our first stops on this social history tour of food you love.

17206 Norwalk Blvd, Cerritos; (562) 865-5000; kaperepublik.com/