Banana Fritters

While Banana Cake/Muffin seems like the most direct application for surplus of ripen bananas at home, deep frying them is equally awesome! However, this is not the "pisang goreng" (Malay style banana fritter) kind which we grew up loving, it's more like Western style fritter with an Asian flavour, hard to explain until you try one. I'll save the pisang goreng type for later when some Malay makcik (aunty) is kind enough to share her recipe with me. Before so, I've bumped about on the internet and toyed with this recipe instead. There are some afterthoughts right below the recipe, do consider them before trying! =)

Banana Fritters (makes about 16-20)
(Modified from Jennifer Chung's recipe on Kidspot)

 8-10     Bananas, halved
enough Plain flour for dusting
enough oil for deep frying

For batter
 160g     Plain Flour
   80g     Rice Flour
   10g     Baking Powder
 180g     Coconut Milk
 160g     Milk (may substitute all with Coconut Milk vice versa)
     5g     Vanilla Extract or 3g Vanilla Powder
pinch of salt

1. Sift all dry ingredients and whisk briefly before adding in the wet ingredients. Whisk thoroughly till batter is lump-free. Let stand for 10 mins. (I omitted the waiting part since I'm using double acting BP)

2. Set up a production line (planning is very important!) -- halving station (if not cutting in advance), dredging station, batter station, frying station and soak-off station.

3. Heat oil to medium high heat in a deep pan, enough for the fritters to move about freely without sticking to the bottom. Carefully drop the battered bananas into the hot oil, frying each side for 2-3 mins. Do not overcrowd the pan.

4. Remove the fritter once both sides are golden brown. Drip off excess oil and leave on kitchen towel to absorb the rest. Let cool slightly and serve!


Thoughts: I've consulted a fruit stall uncle about the best species of bananas to be deep fried, which he did mention but I zoned out after he told me it was sold out. According to his "expertise", pisang raja, a firm textured species with sweet and just slightly starchy flesh, is most popular among housewives, especially when it comes to pisang goreng. Mainly because pisang raja is suitable for both deep frying and eaten raw whereas some species is only suitable for either. And so (in his words I quote), people have dubbed this species the "King of Bananas". I don't care for royalty but will still choose to go with pisang raja again for its creamy texture after deep frying and the flexibility to be eaten raw. Makcik knows best indeed!

Now the original recipe only calls for 6 bananas, which after halving, will yield 12 fritters. But I ended with 18. Give and take the different sizes of bananas, and depending on how thick you coat the batter, I say the recipe should yield 16-20. Personally, I find that there's too little banana within; its not shiok enough! I would have preferred a whole banana inside so I can get more of its sweet creamy awesomeness! That's not just me, my family concur as well! So I recommend halving the recipe and frying whole bananas for a yield more manageable for an average appetite family of 4-5.

Optional serving suggestions
Of course Banana Fritters can be served naked, but there's no reason not to oomph it up a little too! Simple additions like dusting with Icing sugar or Cinnamon sugar, drizzling with Honey or Maple Syrup will do the trick. With a little more time, you can make a seductive Chocolate dipping sauce. Or just dip it into a jar of Nutella! Bananas and Nutella can never go wrong!

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