[dropcap type="2"]I[/dropcap] haven't blogged for ages and it took me quite a while to find my way around this platform.
During the long weekend, I planned on upgrading my publishing platform and eventually get back to blogging once again. However, the big “K” (katamaran or lazy bones) got in the way and reduced me to being a couch potato — glued on the TV and Facebook!
Now, having mentioned Facebook here, some of my recent Facebook status updates, (well, I’d say MOST!) were about food I have been indulging on. And one of them is bananas — my favourite fruit. Yesterday, my second attempt at copying a particular “caramelized banana” dessert, failed. Undaunted by the failure, I decided to have a go at it, again, this afternoon as boredom struck.
The Pinoy saging na saba (plantain banana) is a favorite dessert here in the “orphanage” either boiled, or fried (plain or with brown sugar coating). I recently discovered and learned from one of the yayas, a twist in fried plantain bananas — that is frying them lightly in a shallow non-stick pan that is coated with olive oil and over a low, low fire — resulting in a light yellow to golden colour and with a consistency that is chewy-tender to the bite – not oily and mushy when fried in loads of oil!
Today, my caramelized banana fritters, though still not quite the consistency I wanted, came out much better than yesterday’s!
For this experiment, I used plantain bananas that are not over-ripe and soft — just firm when the knife slices through the flesh. I then fried the halved sabas the way described above.
In a small saucepan with about a cup of hot water, I dissolved about eight spoonfuls of brown sugar and simmered on low fire until the mixture was reduced to a thick syrupy consistency which I transferred to the non-stick pan. Over low heat, I continued to simmer the sugar syrup to thicken a bit more and until bubbles start to form. Then, I dipped the fried bananas – halved sides – in the thickening syrup and continued cooking for about two minutes or so.
Here’s the result -
[image type="overlay" align="center" width="500" caption="Caramelized Banana Fritters"]
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The caramelized syrup glazing on the halved side wasn’t as thick as I wanted it to be but was definitely crunchy to the bite. Meanwhile, the other side has no sugar glazing and just the way I wanted it – a soft (not mushy), chewy consistency. Yum! And while devouring this delightful merienda treat, I suddenly thought of another technique that might lead me to perfect my caramelized bananas next time I do it again!
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