A banana fritter is a fritter made by deep frying battered banana or Cooking banana in hot cooking oil. It is a common dish across Southeast Asia, Madagascar, and South India.
Varieties
Brunei
Banana fritters are a traditional snack in
Brunei, where they are called cucur pisang.
They are similar to
pisang goreng in Indonesia and Malaysia. Cucur pisang madu, a variant of cucur pisang made with
honey, are popular as a light afternoon meal (minum petang).
Cambodia
In
Khmer language, banana fritters are called
num chek chien (នំចេកចៀន). They are made by dipping flattened bananas in a thick mixture of
rice flour,
sesame seeds,
and
coconut milk seasoned with
salt and
sugar and deep frying them in hot oil until crispy and golden. The Cambodian banana fritters are more savoury than sweet and are often eaten as a
snack with
coconut ice cream as a popular accompaniment.
A famous banana fritter shop in
Cambodia is
Chek Chean Pises operating since 2000 that has two locations in
Phnom Penh – at Mao Tse Tong Boulevard and Kampuchea Krom Boulevard.
India
South India
Vazhakkappam or
pazham pori (), also known as
ethakka appam, is a fritter food with ripened
banana or
Cooking banana and
maida flour. A popular food item in South Indian cuisines, especially in
Kerala, it is generally eaten as a
breakfast or a snack.
It is called as
balekayi bajji (ಬಾಳೆಕಾಯಿ ಬಜ್ಜಿ) in
Kannada,
vazhakkay bajji in
Tamil language, and
aratikaya bajji (అరటికాయ బజ్జి) in
Telugu language.
Pazham pori is principally made from bananas or plantain. Plantains are slit lengthwise after peeling and is dipped into a batter made from all-purpose flour, salt, turmeric and sugar. This is then deep-fried in oil until golden brown.
In the state of Kerala, banana fritters hold particular cultural and culinary significance and are commonly referred to as pazham pori or ethakka appam. They are typically prepared using ripe nendran bananas, which give the fritters a distinctive flavor and texture. Unlike many other types of fritters, they are traditionally served on their own often as an evening snack accompanied by tea and are not typically paired with curries or side dishes.
Pazham pori is served usually along with tea or chai as a snack in the evening. In some restaurants in Kerala pazham pori is served along with beef.
Indonesia
In
Indonesia, banana fritters are commonly known as
pisang goreng.
They are often sold by street vendors,
In Indonesia
pisang goreng are deep fried in ample of cooking oil; they might be coated with batter or not.
Cooking banana is often used instead of banana. Traditionally, some cultivars of banana such as Latundan banana, pisang tanduk and Saba banana are the most popular kinds of banana used for pisang goreng. These banana cultivars have a mild sweet and sour flavor and firm texture that will not crumble upon being fried. Pisang raja however, has a softer texture and a fragrant aroma.
In Indonesia, it is consumed as a snack to accompany tea or coffee, either in the morning or late afternoon break. Traditional Warung (local coffee shops) often offer pisang goreng and other snacks, including fritters and kue to accompany coffee or tea.
Banana fritters along other kinds of fritters are sold on travelling carts or by street vendors throughout Indonesia.
Every region in Indonesia has developed various recipe for pisang goreng with a variety of different names, ingredients and cooking techniques.
Pisang goreng is usually sold together with other gorengan fritters including fried tofu and tempeh. However, Pisang goreng Pontianak are widely popular in Indonesia with certain retail outlets exclusively selling only this type of banana fritters.
Pisang goreng variants
Indonesia has many varieties of
pisang goreng, including:
- Pisang goreng kipas or Pisang goreng Pontianak
- Refers to banana cut in the shape of a fan, battered, and deep fried. The term pisang goreng Pontianak is often used interchangeably with pisang goreng kipas, as both have a similar fan-like shape, but the former is often filled or served with Coconut jam.
- Pisang goreng pasir
- Literally meaning "sandy fried banana", bread crumbs are added to the batter, resulting in grainy, crispy crumbs on the skin, giving it a similar texture to croquette.
- Pisang goreng kremes
- Javanese pisang goreng kremes is quite similar to pisang goreng pasir, but with a different batter composition and a different frying technique. The batter coating is made of rice flour, vanilla extract, and coconut milk, deep fried in an ample of hot cooking oil, creating crispy and crunchy kremes granules in the coating, and resulting in a sweet, fragrant aroma.
- Pisang goreng madu
- Literally meaning "honey fried banana", honey is added into the batter, and prior to serving honey is drizzled upon the fried banana. The color is rather dark due to the caramelised honey.
- Pisang molen
- Derived from Dutch influence in Indonesia, pisang molen literally means "milled banana". Unlike other batter-coated pisang goreng, pisang molen is wrapped around in tape-shaped thin pastry dough prior to frying, creating a crunchy texture on the outside similar to pastry skin, while the banana inside remains moist and soft.
- Pisang cokelat
- Often colloquially abbreviated as piscok, it is a thin crepe skin filled with banana and chocolate sprinkles or chocolate condensed milk, folded and deep fried in a similar fashion to making spring rolls. It is almost identical to the Philippines turon.
- Pisang embal
- Kai Islands pisang goreng is similar to other batter-coated pisang goreng, but using embal (tapioca or cassava starch) in its batter. It served with sambal.
- Pisang nugget
- Small nugget-shaped fried banana. Its texture is akin to pisang goreng pasir in that it is coated in bread crumbs, however it is much smaller in size, similar in shape to .
- Pisang goreng telanjang
- Literally meaning "naked fried banana", it is fried without any batter. Salted butter or margarine are added,
- Pisang goreng Manado
- Manado cuisine pisang goreng is similar to other batter-coated pisang goreng, except it is served with sambal, a spicy chili paste made of smoked roa fish and fresh chilies.
File:Pisang goreng fried banana.JPG| Pisang goreng with paler batter.
File:YosriPisangTandukGoreng.jpg| Pisang tanduk goreng without batter.
File:Pisang goreng snack.jpg|Disc-shaped flat pisang goreng.
File:Pisangcokelat.jpg| Piscok, pisang goreng with chocolate
Madagascar
In
Madagascar, where it is called
mofo akondro, it consists of a whole or sliced banana—most often a cooking banana or a plantain—that is simply peeled and then dipped in a fluid, sticky batter. This batter, which serves as a coating, is traditionally made from wheat or rice flour, eggs, water or milk, and optionally sugar and a hint of vanilla. The coated banana is then immersed in a bath of hot oil and fried until the exterior is golden and crispy, and the banana inside is cooked and tender
.
Once fried, mofo akondro is primarily sold as street food. It is offered at a modest price by independent vendors, who sell it hot from market stalls or along busy thoroughfares, often to be eaten on the go as a quick and energizing snack.
Malaysia and Singapore
In
Malaysia and
Singapore, banana fritters are commonly known in the
Malay language as
pisang goreng. Other names may include cekodok pisang and jemput-jemput pisang. The style of banana fritters commonly found in these countries is made by deep frying battered
Cooking banana in hot
cooking oil.
It is typically consumed as a snack in the morning and afternoon. They are often sold by street vendors,
although it is also offered as a product at storefronts, dining establishments as well as Singapore's hawker centres.
Myanmar
A dish of banana fritter cooked in thick, spicy fish sause and served with rice is claimed to have been a favourite dish of the former royal family of Myanmar.
Philippines
There are numerous fried banana dishes in
Philippines. They are almost always made from
, a native
cooking banana that is widely used in
Filipino cuisine.
Pritong saging are fried saba bananas (without batter) usually served with sugar or syrup. Bananas cooked with batter are a different dish known as
maruya, which are more commonly made mashed or sliced very thinly and spread into a fan shape. However, the most common Filipino street food dishes made from banana are
banana cue and
turon. Banana cue are fried bananas coated with caramelized sugar and served on skewers; while
turon is a type of fried dessert
lumpia unique to the Philippines and is cooked in a crepe wrapper.
Thailand
Kluai khaek (, ), sometimes called
kluai thot (กล้วยทอด, ), is a popular Thai street snack.
Kluai khaek is made from fried, floured banana commonly topped with white sesame.
For the word kluai in Thai means "banana" and khaek literally means "guest" and is a colloquialism used for Indians, Muslims or Hindus. Assumed that the reason it was called, probably because it was adapted from the recipe of those people.
At present, it can be considered as street food that is easily found in general street stalls. Often sold with other types of snacks that have similar characteristics, such as khanom khai nok kratha, khao mao thot, fried taro, etc.
An area famous for kluai khaek in Bangkok is around Lan Luang Intersection to Chakkraphatdi Phong Intersection, where it is referred to as Nang Loeng in the Pom Prap Sattru Phai District. Here, there are many kluai khaek shops. The sellers will dress with aprons different colours vary according to each shop. They will carry banana bag, walk down the street and sell to those who drive through the streets and intersections in this area. In February 2018, Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) has banned this type of trade from being sold on the streets.
Suriname
In
Suriname, this snack is also known as
bakabana (meaning fried banana in
Sranan Tongo).
Vietnam
In Vietnamese, banana fritters are called
chuối chiên. They are based on the French dessert
banana flambée. After deep frying, Vietnamese banana fritters are drizzled with
rum or
rice wine and ignited to further crisp them.
See also
