Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Fried Bananas

These are actually called fried plantains back home in Nigeria. But since i moved to Australia, i've stuck with calling it fried bananas because the Vietnamese and Thais make something similar. I've actually had the Vietnamese version where it is mixed with thinly sliced sweet potatoes and batter. The whole mixture is then fried in an aesthetic manner; the sweet potatoes make the base and a piece of thinly sliced banana is added to the stack of sweet potatoes. The batter mixture holds everything together. The Thai version i've seen is actually roasted/ grilled which we also do in Nigeria, but we call ours bole (pronounced bohlair). The picture above is the finished product; you can have these on its own, with some stew over it, fried eggs, boiled rice and your accompanying sauce, beans and whatever else your imagination can come up with. I had mine with tomato stew and fried eggs. Next time i make the stew, i'll remember to take pictures and give you guys my recipe. So lets get cracking =)
This recipe calls for finger bananas (as pictured above), some salt to season and some oil to fry it in. I used grapeseed oil to make mine.
Peel the bananas and slice them thinly in whatever angle you like. I usually like mine diagonal but one of my uncles prefers to eat his in a perfect straight circle. When i don't have as much bananas as i need, but want to create the illusion of having a lot, i tend to cube them just like feta cheese.
Put your oil on the stove and when hot, gently tip the sliced bananas into the hot oil and allow to cook. Turn them over to ensure that both sides are cooked evenly and prevent having burnt bananas. I usually like mine to have a golden colour to it when i'm done. Some others prefer theirs to be really brown but that doesn't work for me because it actually affects the taste. A word of caution: don't turn them too quickly if not it'll absorb the oil and you'll end up with soggy food. Just think of it as making the perfect fried egg; if you turn it too quickly the egg wouldn't set properly for you to flip it over. The same principles apply here; unless you prefer yours soggy in which case, ignore this titbit. It might take a bit of trial and error to perfect it but once you do, you'll love it. You can make as much as you want and actually store it in the fridge. Growing up, i had a habit of saving mine so i could snack on it later because the taste alters slightly when its cold.

2 comments:

  1. !!!!! i love this!!! i love plantain chips! my best friend is nigerian and introduced me to them when i was like 10, whenever she comes to visit me at uni she brings me bags from london as i have no clue where to get them from! they are so yummy! i never actually considered making my own so thanks for the idea!xoxox

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  2. You're very welcome girlie :) I know most of the Indian groceries in England tend to sell plantains so you could check those out. Actually Tesco once stocked them but i don't know if they still do :)

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