The banana flower is very appreciated in many Asian countries and with immigration and the proliferation of exotic food stores, we can now enjoy it also in Italy. Let's see how to use it in the kitchen .
Banana flowers, how to use them in the kitchen
Like all the fruits that we put on our tables, even bananas before they were such were a flower, a beautiful purple flower, which can seem to be a cross between a panicle and an artichoke.
The flavor of the banana flower has little to do with that of the fruit: in fact it is starchy and bitter and can remember the bitter melon (Momordica charantia) sometimes called here in Italy bitter courgette, with an aftertaste of noc e.
First of all, the banana flower must be clean: we will remove the dark and hard leaves, discovering small potential fruits inside, which we should clean up further and keep aside. Continuing to peel the flower we will reach the central heart, no longer peelable, greenish-yellowish.
Exactly like an artichoke, the processed parts of the banana flower will have to be put in water with salt and lemon to seem to lose a little bitter taste.
Here are some simple recipes with an ethnic flavor with banana flowers.
Banana flower salad
Simple, healthy, effective, easy to do with what we find at home or in a few minutes walk to the market. The banana flower gives depth to the salad, adding an extra dimension, able to satiate properly while remaining light because, after all, it is always a salad.
Ingredients for two people:
> 1 banana flower
> 1 clove of garlic
> some citronella leaves
> various ingredients, as desired, in a proportion of at least 1: 1.5 in relation to the banana flower
Method
The clean banana flower should be reduced to small pieces that we will leap into a little oil with a clove of garlic and some citronella leaves. Once cooked, add the other ingredients of the salad: it goes well with tomatoes, cabbage leaves, carrots, chickpeas or other legumes, sprouts, sunflower seeds, green mango, touches of cooked beetroot, lime, tamari, flowers of marigold, mint, pepper strips, radicchio.
Banana flower fry
Another equally simple recipe, typical of Asian countries and much loved in Bangladesh; it is an original side dish, easy to prepare, which will amaze your guests, especially thanks to the waxy leaves filled with good food .
Ingredients for two people:
> 2 banana flowers
> 250 grams of yam
> 200 gr of potatoes
> 1 cup of soy milk
> 1 avocado
> spices
Method
Once again we clean the flower from the external waxy leaves, which this time we will keep aside because they can be used instead of bowls to serve the course, and we chop up the whole edible part again. Everything is fried together with various powdered spices, preferably coriander, turmeric and cumin .
This frying will be an ideal side dish for egg-based dishes, such as boiled, scrambled or omelette eggs; but it can also be used to make good white basmati rice tasty and its taste is perfectly integrated with that of yam puree : remove the rind from a piece of yam to which we will add as many peeled potatoes to boil together. Once ready, we will whisk everything with a dash of soy milk, half an avocado, oil, salt and a pinch of vanilla.
Vadai of banana flower
The banana flower is a typical ingredient of Indian cuisine and we could not exempt ourselves from suggesting a recipe from that place. The vadai are fried meatballs, a tasty snack to be enjoyed in the morning with a good chutney and a glass of masala tea.
Ingredients for two people:
> 1 banana flower
> 4 cloves of garlic
> 1 piece of ginger
> a teaspoon of fennel seeds and cumin
> 1 cup of yellow lentils
Method
We will finely cut a banana flower, a red onion, 4 cloves of garlic, a little ginger. We mix it all with fennel seeds, cumin seeds and a little curry, adding a cup of well-cooked yellow lentils. Now add salt and pepper to taste. We will work it all together to obtain a not too moist paste, giving it the shape of many balls. Fry in olive oil until completely browned and serve while still hot: your vazhaipoo vadai are ready!
Steamed vegetable mix with banana flower
Steaming is the one that best preserves the properties of vegetables, it is also easy to do and with the right mix of ingredients and the right condiments they also become pleasant dishes and not just recipes reserved for an almost raw food elite that focuses only on wellness without think about taste.
Ingredients for two people:
> 1 banana flower
> 2 green plantain bananas
> 2 beets
> 2 sweet potatoes
> 100 grams of green beans
> ground peanuts to taste
Method
We will clean the banana flower from the outer leaves, preserving the edible part that we will cut into large pieces. We will peel the plane trees with a potato peeler until we see the pulp, which we will then cut into cubes. We will peel the beets that we will cut into four and we will do the same with the sweet potatoes, cutting them into cubes of the same size.
After cleaning the beans too, we will put everything to steam for at least 40 minutes, then season with lime juice, tamari and Himalayan salt.
Nutritional values of the banana flower
The various Indian peoples consume the banana flower to help women reduce the loss of blood in the menstrual period: even medical science in fact recognizes the ability of banana flower to induce the production of progesterone, a hormone known to have this ability.
It is also a good source of vitamins (E, A and C), which make it an excellent antioxidant able to prevent DNA damage, and help infants produce good quality milk. It is also a mine of many different trace elements, among which potassium and magnesium stand out.
To enjoy these qualities to the full, it would be good not to exaggerate the cooking of the banana flower and eat it steamed, along with legumes and seeds such as cashews, hazelnuts, peanuts, or along with sprouts.
