Pisang Goreng or Deep Fried Bananas

Just ripe bananas dipped in a thick batter are deep-fried till golden, creating a crispy outside and a soft sweet inside – a truly delectable treat called Pisang Goreng in Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia. In English that translates to fried bananas.

“Pull over!” she’d cry.  It might be a fruit stand selling durian or a little roadside café or a hole-in-the-wall frying hot wontons filled with shrimp.  No matter, my mother was (and is) always game to stop and try whatever is on offer.  I get my food adventurousness from her.  When we lived in Trinidad, we ate curried who-knows-what at shacks by the side of the road.  (My favorite is goat.)  The other expat ladies thought she was crazy and that we’d get sick.  We never did.  In Venezuela Mom would buy me homemade cheese, called queso de mano, from peddlers who would dart between cars at the big roundabout near our house.  Even when we moved back to Houston, she would seek out the little local markets in the ethnic areas, driving clear across town to drink yogurt lassi and eat spicy samosas or to perhaps buy Middle Eastern sweet treats like baklava to bring in to work.

Through all the countries we’ve lived, I’ve tried to do the same.  Street food, when cooked hot and fresh, is the very best.  Get in line at the stall with the most people waiting to be served and you are guaranteed something tasty and worth waiting for.  All those people can’t be wrong, right?

My mother-in-law, me and my mom, at a hawker center in Singapore, 1 June 2009.
This is where Mom chose to go for her birthday lunch! 

This week our Sunday Supper group is celebrating global street food and I cannot tell you how long my list of possible recipes from myriad countries was.  It took me three days to settle on just one.  I don’t remember where I first tried fried bananas but I can tell you that my daughters fell in love with them in Brazil, where they are often served as the dessert at the end of a churrascaria meal.  Fried bananas are also typical market or street food all over Asia.  Turns out that the Portuguese are probably responsible for both.  If Wikipedia is to be trusted, up until 1511, Malaysians ate bananas in their natural state.  When the Portuguese arrived, they brought with them the flour necessary to make batter and their method of frying bananas, which then spread throughout the region.  So hats off to the Portuguese and let’s fry some bananas!

Many thanks to the Google+ Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia Cuisine Community, led by the talented and kind +Azlin Bloor, who generously allow me to be part of their group and who helped me settle on a recipe for the batter.  You all rock!

Ingredients
3/4 cup or 95g all-purpose flour
1/4 cup or 40g rice flour (not glutinous rice flour)
2 teaspoons baking powder
Pinch of salt
1 egg
1 -1 1/4 cups water, or just enough to make the batter thick enough to stick to the bananas
Oil for deep frying – I use canola
4-5 medium-sized ripe - but not too soft - bananas

Powdered sugar – optional but not traditional – for serving
(Some fancy restaurants in Asia also serve these now, sometimes with ice cream.)

Method
Combine your flours, baking powder and salt in a big mixing bowl.

Beat your egg with a little water to loosen it and pour it in the mixing bowl.

Keep stirring and adding water until your batter is thin enough to drip off the whisk but still thick enough to cling to a banana.

Heat oil in pan or wok over medium flame to about 365°F or 185°C.  This is the temperature on my candy/deep frying thermometer which is suggested for doughnuts.

Peel and slice bananas in half widthwise then lengthwise.

Coat bananas in batter, and deep-fry in the hot oil for just a few minutes, or until bananas are golden brown and crispy.

Drain on paper towels.

Sprinkle on a little powdered sugar, if desired.  I did because I think it looks pretty.

Enjoy!

Be careful with that first bite.  The banana inside will be hot!

Bread on the Boulevard

• Martabak (stuffed pancake or pan-fried bread)

from The Urban Mrs

Pao de Queijo

from A Kitchen Hoor’s Adventures

Socca

from Curious Cuisiniere

Hand-Held Savory Eats

• Beef and Pork Empanadasfrom Magnolia Days
• Beef Taquitos from Bobbi’s Kozy Kitchen
• Carnitas Tortas from Cookin’ Mimi
• Chicken and Chorizo Street Tacos from I Run For Wine
• Chorizo, Chimichurri and Salsa Sandwiches from Vintage Kitchen Notes
• Croque Monsieur from Peanut Butter and Peppers
• Falafel Pita Sandwich from Mama’s Blissful Bites
• Feta Chicken Kabobs from That Skinny Chick Can Bake
• Samosas from Soni’s Food
• Schnitzelwecken {Schnitzel on a bun} from The Not So Cheesy Kitchen
• SoCal Rolled Tacos from Webicurean
• Tandoori Chicken Wrap from Foxes Love Lemons
• Tortas de Milanesa (Pork Cutlet Sandwiches) from Juanita’s Cocina
• Waffle Cone Fried Chicken from Jane’s Adventures in Dinner

To-Go Containers

• Arancinis from My cute bride
• Currywurst mit Pommes from girlichef
• NicaMales (Nicaraguan Street Food) from The Hand That Rocks The Ladle
• Poutine from Noshing with the Nolands
• Tacos de Carne Asada from Family Foodie
• Tokyo University Potatoes from NinjaBaking.com

Sweets on the Streets

• Banana Nutella Swirl Gelato from Cupcakes & Kale Chips
• Easy Apple Churros with Dulce de Leche from Daily Dish Recipes
• Funnel Cake 3 Ways from Cindy’s Recipes and Writings
• Hotteok from Small Wallet, Big Appetite
• Kettle Corn from Killer Bunnies, Inc
• Nutella Crepes from The Girl in the Little Red Kitchen
• Pisang Goreng (Deep Fried Bananas) from Food Lust People Love
• Sweet Corn Tamale (Tamal Asado) from Basic N Delicious

Grab a Thermos

• Wine Pairing Recommendations For Global Street Food from ENOFYLZ Wine Blog

Banana Walnut Muffins #MuffinMonday

With apologies to David Attenborough and the BBC Natural History Unit. 

(Cue hushed voice)  If we observe closely, we can witness a natural phenomenon of the expat life.  Preparations for the Great Expat Migration, likened only to the circular migration of the wildebeests through the Serengeti for sheer volume of participants, begin in March or April with bookings on public conveyances.   Historically, this meant ships, but now, more likely, airplanes.  In the Northern Hemisphere the actual migration begins in early June, as formal institutes of learning close for an extended period through the heat of the summer months. 

We can observe the migrants in various states of readiness.  The elder females clear out stockpiles of clothing that no longer fit their young and make donations to the local community.  Farewell rituals are observed with parting gifts and potlucks.  Graduates are feted.  Tears are shed and bags, one inside another, are packed with skeleton wardrobes:  a few pairs of shorts, shirts and underwear, plus a possible indigenous hostess gift or two, because supplies can and will be purchased along the circular migratory path.  

Migrants en route are readily apparent by the almost complete lack of male adults on the initial leg of the journey, as mothers and their young board airplanes to reconnect with their original countrymen and home cultures for the duration of the summer season.  We follow the migratory path for the next two months as these wanderers traverse borders, staying a few days or a few weeks at a time with obliging relations and friends, gorging on favorite foods and imbibing excessive libations of a celebratory nature, and, most essentially, stocking up on necessary supplies for the return journey and the nine months before the next migration.  

Old friendships are reaffirmed and local dialects are used again.  Bewildered offspring are immersed in the culture of their parents’ heritage, which often includes being obliged to kiss aged relations in the matriarchal or patriarchal line and permit the pinching of young cheeks.  These family rituals are an attempt to transmit family values, history and culture from one generation to the next.  Male adult members often join the migration at some point, upon which the ritual or tradition called Family Holiday (BritE) or Family Vacation (AmE) ensues.  This is met by much jubilance among the youngsters and relief from the older females.  Varying from family to family, seasonal migration traditions may also include family reunions, with inexplicable matching t-shirts for all participants, adults and children alike. (Which would make a whole 'nother post.)

St. George's Island, Florida, circa 2002

First cousins

Then finally, with suitcases at capacity and appetites sated, more tears are shed and farewells are exchanged as our travelers complete the migratory circle, returning to their expat homes just in time for the start of the new school year.  

According to a United Nations projection, there might well be over 200 million expats in this big world, depending on your exact definition of expat.  How many are in the migration circle, even as I type?  Are you?  Leave me a comment!  I finished my circle early this year and Dubai is feeling pretty empty. 

But enough fun with social anthropology.  Since it’s Monday, you know I’ve got a muffin for you.  

Ingredients

2 cups or 250g flour

2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

5oz or 140g light brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 eggs

1/3 cup or 80ml canola

1/2 cup or 120ml milk

2 large, ripe bananas

About 3/4 cup or 75g walnuts

12 walnut halves and powdered sugar (optional for decorating)

Method

Preheat your oven to 375F° or 190°C and prepare your 12-cup muffin pan by greasing or lining with paper muffin cups. 

In a large bowl mix together your flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and brown sugar.  

In a smaller bowl, whisk your milk, canola oil and eggs, along with the two ripe bananas.  

Chop your walnuts.  

Pour your wet ingredients into your dry ingredients and stir until just combined.  

Now fold in the chopped nuts. 

Evenly distribute the batter among the muffin cups.  

Top with one walnut half per muffin, if desired. 

Bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool for a few minutes.  Remove the muffins from the muffin pan and finish cooling on a rack.  

Sprinkle with a little powdered sugar – optional, but look how pretty! 

Enjoy! 

Banana Honey Muffins #MuffinMonday

We are coming up on six months in the desert and it occurred to me that I haven’t really shared that much about life here.   At least not like I feel I did when we were in Cairo.  I guess it is that Dubai is such a modern city that it doesn’t feel that different in many ways, from other places we have lived.   My neighborhood is surrounded by vast desert wasteland with little in the way of plants besides natural scrub.

But, inside the walls of this gated community, we enjoy green lawns and flowering plants in abundance.

The view from my kitchen window.

A different angle of the backyard.

Supermarkets have everything we need, including bacon and cheese, and even some things we just want like fresh flowers, Wilton baking supplies and Jif peanut butter.   I know, I know, some of you are saying that bacon and cheese are “wants” not “needs” but then you must not know me very well yet.  :)  After Cairo with its limited supply of green leafy vegetables, I am working on not getting spoiled by choice and trying to choose fresh foods that haven’t been flown in from the other side of the world with a long carbon footprint to match.

Overwhelmed for choice.

Every item is labeled with the country of its provenance, which is very helpful.

One thing I did get in Egypt and for which I am very grateful, were two bottles of wonderful honey, which were a gift from the Orthodox priests we visited on a charity trip.  I haven’t found anything to match it here yet.   It’s lovely runny stuff, produced by religious bees.  (Just kidding.)  But it does make delicious muffins.   I reminisce with gratitude every time I use it.

Ingredients
Muffins:
2 cups or 250g flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup or 115g sugar
2 large bananas (ripe)
2 eggs
1/4 cup or 60ml canola or other light oil
2 tablespoons honey
1/2 cup or 120ml milk

Topping:
2 tablespoons or 30g butter (softened)
1/4 cup or 25g oats
1 pinch salt
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons honey

Method
Preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C and prepare your 12-cup muffin tin by greasing it or lining it with paper muffin cups.

Combine your flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and sugar in a large mixing bowl.

In another small bowl, mashed your ripe bananas with a fork.

Then whisk together your bananas, eggs, canola oil, honey and milk.

In a separate small bowl, mix together your first four topping ingredients until smooth.  Add in the honey and stir well.

Pour your egg/milk mixture into your dry ingredients and stir until just mixed.

Divide the muffin batter between the muffin cups.

Top each cup of batter with a scoop of the topping and spread it out just a little with your spoon.

Bake in your preheated oven for about 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.  The topping will form a natural slightly crunchy glaze on each muffin.

Allow to cool for a few minutes in the pan and then remove to a wire rack to finish cooling.

Enjoy!