Which type of banana you eat? Is it the small or big?
By zearah
@zearah (5381)
Philippines
June 29, 2009 1:05am CST
About more than 1,000 types of banana in the whole world. Bananas differing slightly in appearance, size, taste and use.
Common types are:
1.Plantains- this type needs to be cooked first, for other countries used as staple food during meals, especially during breakfast and snacks. It's boiled unpeeled with plain water or peeled cooked with grated coconut milk with sugar. Some is used as main material in cup cake, or banana cake, or muffins.
2.Baby banana-immediately edible at raw, no need to cook. This is for dessert or snacks. There are times other mother want to cook it for baby food or flavor in cakes and sweets.
Among all types of banana which one you eat? Why?
2 people like this
15 responses
@zearah (5381)
• Philippines
2 Jul 09
Wow, I thought I would have to upload a pic of this banana, when I reach 500 posts, but since you knew it already then I would have to think twice for it. Well good to hear that this big banana is known not only here in our place but also there in your area.
1 person likes this
@zearah (5381)
• Philippines
30 Jun 09
Gotcha! Yeah, its important that fruit as banana should be washed first before eat. And good to hear that you have had many types of banana, just curious if you had those more than 12" length of banana. If not we have it here in Philippines you could have at least the seeds of it to plant.
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@zearah (5381)
• Philippines
14 Jul 09
Yes here in Philippines too bananas are staple food of Filipinos. In breakfast and meals banana are usually served in the table. In fact in some families bananas are permanent in the table and everybody in the house could take a piece to eat in no specific time. But big bananas are generally more delicious than smaller ones.
1 person likes this
@kindy198636 (471)
• China
29 Jun 09
Wow, there are so many types of banana in the world, so amazing. Actually I only know two types, the big one and the small one haha, I always eat the big one, the big one is cheaper, so i always choose the big one, and banana is my favorite fruit, i almost eat it everyday.
1 person likes this
@ckyera (17331)
• Philippines
29 Jun 09
anything will do for me! ooops i forget, i don't like the green banana that much( the one that looks like lakatan and i believe its the one that's better for a banana cake)but i like banana cake...
my favorite is the lakatan( Davao variety) i like its taste and my husband also loves it! i always buy this kind...
i also love the senorita type( the one from Tagaytay)i love its sweet taste...its like a small lakatan...
i also like eating "saba"...there's so many foods that can be made from this type...among my favorites are banana-q, boiled(when i am still on Laguna,we like it ripe before cooking but when i get here in Cebu i learned to eat boiled raw "saba" with "ginamos"(fish extract? i don't know what to call it in english, but its bagoong in Tagalog) and little vinegar & chili as sauce!
sweetened(banana con yelo)
so obviously i love bananas! aside from being very nutritious, its also real delicious!
@ckyera (17331)
• Philippines
29 Jun 09
oh thank you...
are you referring to banana chips? i am thinking how that banana with sesame seeds are called? i saw those products even here in Cebu and also in Batangas...(those were popular for tourist as a "pasalubong" to their loved ones...)
i think "ginamos" is not shrimp paste...its more of a fish extract...
shrimp paste in tagalog is the "alamang" or "uyap" here in cebu.
1 person likes this
@zearah (5381)
• Philippines
30 Jun 09
Yes, I agree fish extract is the best name for it. We love to eat that, with the cooked banana especially when banana are half unripe or half ripe.. Yeah we have factories here owned by some businessmen doin' this banana chips with or without sesame seeds.
@zearah (5381)
• Philippines
29 Jun 09
With this post I hope many foreigners would be interested to come here and try those Philippines' bananas whether big or small, yes girl that "ginamos" you've mentioned its similar to shrimp paste as our kabayan described it so I typed for this "ginamos or bagoong" as fish paste. Yes good you've mentioned our city, Davao, yeah we have here several banana plantations some were owned by Pinoys but others were from foriegners such as: chinese businessmen operating here in Philippines, one of most popular final product from this banana is dip fried in oil with or without sugar, or the special class and most expensive is coated with sugar and milk sometimes with seasame seeds.
@ciccibucci83 (415)
• Italy
29 Jun 09
Here in Italy you can find only big bananas and so I eat everytime big ones...
When I've stayed in India, I founnd the small ones and I've tried them...
What can I say??? It is more delicious the small banana, but I can't find here in Italy...I'm so sad...
I prefer it because it has a good consistence, it is more solid than the big one pulp, and also the flavour is better!
1 person likes this
@ciccibucci83 (415)
• Italy
29 Jun 09
I don't understand...
Italy is not so near to Australia...
and the problem is that, here, people want only big banana and so you can't find the smallest one, because nobody want it...
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@zearah (5381)
• Philippines
29 Jun 09
My suggestion is since you've missed the small banana from India, why not bring some to plant in Australia, so you could let it grow and yield fruits. You know here in Philippines you'll love the big one which is usually in green color when at early ripe and comes slight yellow when overripe. That kind of banana is popular for export to other foreign countries. You could have it their in Australia I guess.
@Ingkingderders (3832)
• Philippines
29 Jun 09
My boyfriend always says, a banana is a banana, no matter what the size or the color is.. But I disagree. I eat only the small ones, those that have whiter meat. I really don't like the taste of the big ones, those that have yellow in color.. Some say they all taste the same, but they don't and for me the taste actually really differs. =)
@zearah (5381)
• Philippines
29 Jun 09
You should try at least once. You would not know how delicious is that big banana that comes from our country (Philippines). This big banana sometimes its color is red and violet. It has a seeds not 2 or 3 but a lot of seeds. This is big that you could eat once. Maybe in 1 to 2 days if you keep it in fridge. This big banana is not cooked. They are ripe and soft to when eat. If I could only post here the pic of this big banana you could imagine how the taste differs from that you've tasted.
@ckyera (17331)
• Philippines
29 Jun 09
hey zearah! i am curious about that big banana you're talking about...was it really delicious? was it different from lakatan? the only banana that i know from your place that is for export is the lakatan...
i ask my husband if he knows that kind of banana since he's from mindanao also and he said he know it but just didn't taste it yet...
1 person likes this
@zearah (5381)
• Philippines
30 Jun 09
This big banana is not common in the market. It's a banana type that would normally with more than 12 inches height/length and more or less 3 to 4 inches diameter in size. You could observe the seeds when you start bite on it, or you'll break it then seeds would be seen inside its meat. It's cook by our mother and some time type no need to cook and can be eaten only when ripe.
@zearah (5381)
• Philippines
30 Jun 09
I suggest to you to try other types of banana. These types of banana are differing in taste which is also based on the type of soil where the trees were planted. Definitely here in our place Philippines, banana trees grow with abundant fruits and delicious of course. You could taste here those smallest banana, same as finger size, and are so sweet "senorita". You could also see here the biggest in Philippines' banana those that with seeds and also taste so sweet, it has a length of more than 12 inches, and about 4 inches wide.
@tjburcham (690)
• United States
18 Jul 09
We don't have big bananas. People that I have talked to that come from countries that grow bananas say these are to small to be bananas, they don't know what they are.
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@sajidsageer (267)
• India
29 Jun 09
hahaha, funny question i eat both big and small bananas. I would like to eat apple because i believe that it is more good than banana.
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@iwinagain (545)
•
18 Jul 09
I like the larger bananas, I find that they are more sweeter in taste.
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@tomjoad (551)
• Philippines
14 Jul 09
what a really funny question. i think, i prefer a big one. why? just because it's big and i like it when it's big. and big bananas have distinct tastes which is better than a small one. from where i came from there are big green bananas for sale everywhere. i love eating them. they are very cheap too. plus, the great thing about bananas is that they are rich in potassium. so it's good for your health. obviously, a big banana would contain more potassium than a smaller one.
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@agv0419 (3022)
• Philippines
29 Jun 09
I like all banana varieties here in the Philippines I like the green variety I like it better when it is overripe. I like also the red banana it is more aromatic and the taste is different I seldom see it in the market. Dole banana is also delicious I forgot what variety it is. It is the expensive variety of banana here that they are exporting. Plaintain here is called Saba it is often used in snacks and in cooking. In the province they simply boil it they prefer to cook when it is unripe they dip it in salt, sugar or shrimp paste. I don't mind eating it whether it is overripe I love eating it that way.
@zearah (5381)
• Philippines
29 Jun 09
Hmmm Kabayan agv0419, you make me hungry but I did not see there in your message the fish paste, I see you've mentioned shrimp paste, another thing good for this Plaintain type of banana is dip with sugar when its boiled unripe, or dip in Silver swan soy sauce plus calamansi/lemon juice plus chili/red pepper. A tomato will also do if with fried or grilled fresh or dried fish, or a soup made of vegetables like "Saluyot"( a green leaf sticky when cook) and a lot more.