| Banana Fritter | |
| Region: | Southeast Asia and the Indian subcontinent |
| Type: | Fritter |
| Main Ingredient: | Banana or plantain, batter |
A banana fritter is a fritter made by deep frying battered banana or plantain in hot cooking oil. It is a common dish across Southeast Asia and South India.
It is commonly found in Kerala and is not served with any curry or side dishes.
Banana fritters are a traditional snack in Brunei, where they are called .[1] [2] They are similar to pisang goreng in Indonesia and Malaysia., a variant of Malay: cucur pisang made with honey, are popular as a light afternoon meal (Malay: minum petang).[3]
In Khmer, banana fritters are called num chek chien (Central Khmer: នំចេកចៀន). They are made by dipping flattened bananas in a thick mixture of rice flour, sesame seeds, egg whites 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.[4] 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.[5]
Vazhakkappam or pazham pori (Malayalam: പഴം പൊരി), also known as ethakka appam, is a fritter food with ripened banana or plantain and maida flour. A popular food item in South Indian cuisines, especially in Kerala, it is generally eaten as a breakfast or a snack.[6] It is called as balekayi bajji (Kannada: ಬಾಳೆಕಾಯಿ ಬಜ್ಜಿ) in Kannada, vazhakkay bajji in Tamil, and aratikaya bajji (Telugu: అరటికాయ బజ్జి) in Telugu.
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 powder and sugar. This is then deep-fried in oil until golden brown.[7] In the other South Indian states of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, it is however prepared using besan flour.
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.[8]
In Indonesia, banana fritters are commonly known as pisang goreng.[9] They are often sold by street vendors,[10] In Indonesia pisang goreng are deep fried in ample of cooking oil; they might be coated with batter or not.
Plantain is often used instead of banana. Traditionally, some cultivars of banana such as pisang raja, pisang tanduk and pisang kepok 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.[11] The banana is often battered and then deep fried in ample palm oil. Pisang goreng might be battered or plain deep fried. The batter most commonly uses a combination of flour, either wheat, rice flour, tapioca or bread crumb. Several recipes might add coconut milk or milk and vanilla extract into the batter to add aroma.[12] Most traditional street vendors will then sell them as is, without any additional ingredients or toppings. However, more upscale coffee shops, cafes and restaurants serve more sophisticated pisang goreng sprinkled with powdered sugar, cinnamon sugar, cheese, jam, condensed milk, chocolate or vanilla ice cream.
In Indonesia, it is consumed as a snack to accompany tea or coffee, either in the morning or late afternoon break. Traditional warung kopi (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.[10] Other than pisang goreng, various kinds of ingredients are battered and deep fried such as tempeh, mendoan, tofu (tahu goreng), oncom, sweet potato, cassava chunk, cassava tapai, tapioca (cireng), vegetables (bakwan) and breadfruit.[13]
Every region in Indonesia has developed various recipe for pisang goreng with a variety of different names, ingredients and cooking techniques.[11] In Bali for example, pisang goreng is called godoh biu, in West Java it is called cau goreng, in Java gedhang goreng, in Sibolga pisang rakit and in Pontianak pisang kipas.[14]
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.[15]
Indonesia has many varieties of pisang goreng, including:
In Malaysia and Singapore, banana fritters are commonly known in the Malay language as pisang goreng. Other names may include Malay: cekodok pisang and Malay: jemput-jemput pisang. The style of banana fritters commonly found in these countries is made by deep frying battered plantain in hot oil.[18] It is typically consumed as a snack in the morning and afternoon. They are often sold by street vendors,[19] although it is also offered as a product at storefronts, dining establishments as well as Singapore's hawker centres.[20]
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.[21]
There are numerous fried banana dishes in Philippines. They are almost always made from saba bananas, 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.
Kluai khaek (Thai: กล้วยแขก, in Thai pronounced as /klûa̯j kʰɛ̀ːk/), sometimes called kluai thot (Thai: กล้วยทอด, in Thai pronounced as /klûa̯j tʰɔ̂ːt/), 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 Nang Loeng, 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.[22] [23]
In Suriname, this snack is also known as bakabana (meaning fried banana in Surinamese).[24]
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.[25]