Pisang goreng - fried banana
Noded at the
request of a
fellow noder.
What kind of pisang to use
For those not in the know: a
banana is not a banana is not a banana. There are literally dozens of different types of banana, and only a few are normally imported in western countries. The bananas to use for this
recipe apparently shouldn't even be called 'bananas', but '
plantains'
1, though both bananas and plantains belong to the
family Musaceae,
genus Musa Paradisiaca, so I'll just stick to using 'bananas'. The difference is that bananas that can only be eaten after cooking or baking them are called plantains
2.
So, the type of banana to use is a type that is used for cooking. A few
varieties I have seen specifically recommended for this
recipe are: pisang tandoek, pisang kepok and pisang raja. How you're going to get your hands on one of these varieties outside of Southeast Asia is a mystery to me, so you're on your own here. Ask at your local
toko.
You're probably okay using normal bananas, but the frying tends to turn normal bananas into a partly
liquefied pudding, so you'll be missing out on the nice
texture of correctly produced pisang goreng. Now, if you are lucky enough to get your hands on some
baking bananas, make sure that they are
ripe before using them. Unripe fried bananas do not
taste good.
Ingredients
Directions
Slice the bananas into pieces roughly half an
inch thick and short enough to fit in your frying
utensil of choice. Put the egg, the salt and the sugar in a
bowl, together with enough flour to make a
batter to
coat the bananas with. Stir the batter until sufficiently
gooey; if too
thin, add some flour, if too
thick add some water, an extra egg or some milk
3.
Then fully coat the banana pieces with the batter and throw them in the heated oil
4.
Fry until the pieces are
golden brown, then take them out and allow to
drain. Best is to put the pieces of pisang goreng on some
paper tissue.
Serve while still
warm, possibly coated with some
icing sugar.
Sources:
http://www.ecofrut.com/html/bananas....html
http://www.the-banana.com/bananas2.htm
http://people.a2000.nl/pclaydon/kPGe.html
1 Start out noding what you know, and find you're noding something you don't. Turns out I wasn't even fully in the know.
2 As far as I can tell.
3 You see, I'm just making this up as I go... *grin*.
4 Hope you anticipated this, otherwise put the oil on the fire and wait till it's hot.
April 10, 2001