Not a monkey but . . .

I was quite happy today seeing my cousins making use of their free time to earn. With the pandemic still going on, their classes are still done online leaving them just enough time to do things that keep them sane.

We live along the highway, so my uncle set up something like a pop store where passersby can easily stop and grab something to snack on. They are currently selling street food and grilled banana.

I'm not gonna talk about my cousins' small business but about bananas instead. It may sound funny but while waiting for my banana to cook, I was staring at it, thinking about how diverse these fruits are!

I mean, you can literally eat banana alone but you can spice it up into a lot of things, and rest assured that everything works! Here are some local ways that Filipinos do to enjoy bananas.

BANANA CUE

The first one is called banana cue. These are caramelized bananas on a stick. We often use Saba, a variety of bananas, in making this snack.

It's best when consumed hot. Some people like it when the bananas are super ripe but I personally prefer the average ones.

MINATAMIS NA SAGING (Sweetened Banana)

Just by the looks of it, I'm quite sure that the sweet lovers at the back are drooling right now! lol

This is a sweetened banana dessert. Basically, bananas are cooked in sweet syrup. Some use Saba with this type of dish but my family loves another variety called Mundoy.

My mom loves to put vanilla extract and tapioca balls on her Minatamis Na Saging too.

GINANG-GANG (Grilled Banana)

Here is another skewered banana snack but this time, it's grilled. I took this photo from my cousins' store and yes, this is what I was talking about.

Saba is used for Ginang-gang as well. After the bananas are evenly cooked, one should brush them with butter or margarine and then roll them in white sugar. And that's about it!

BANANA TURON (Banana Roll)

One of the popular snacks in Filipino school canteens is Banana Turon. Some people call it Lumpiang Saging. Lumpia means spring rolls. Turon uses the same wrapper which looks like a crepe sheet that lumpia uses.

It is then deep-fried in oil and sugar. Sometimes, turon comes on a stick too just like the rest mentioned here. The best and special turon is the one which has jackfruit strips inside that add aroma and flavor to it.

NILUPAK (Pounded Banana)

The last one is called Nilupak which means pounded in English. To makes this snack, you have to cook and pound unripe Saba bananas using mortar and pestle.

I remember mom using coconut bits, sugar, and margarine along with the pounded fruit.

When everything's well mixed, it is then molded into a round shape as seen in the picture and served on a banana leaf.

These my friends are some of the popular ways to cook bananas. As you know, we are not monkeys but we do love bananas a lot! I'm sure my Filo friends definitely know about these. I wrote this in case my article finds its way to my read cash fam's feed who are not from Ph.

I really want to add more but my mom, who has woken up from her sleep is starting to nag at me about how late it is and I'm not yet sleeping. I guess I would end it here. Thank you for reading! Ciao!