grilled bananas on the road side
Another ubiquitous street food in Bangkok, Gluay Ping, grilled banana in palm sugar syrup. The banana used for this is called Gluay Nahm-wa, which is shorter and fatter than the regular banana you see in your supermarket. It's also common to use slightly unripe Nahm-wa bananas for this, as the ripe ones tend to fall apart after grilling. The grilled bananas are sometimes flatten slightly, and doused in a syrup made by simmering palm sugar, water, and salt.
When I was little, I loved Gluay Ping made of greener bananas than usual. Green bananas develop a taut skin that's almost caramelized on the charcoal grill. Biting into one, the almost crisp skin gave way to a melting soft and sweet interior that's enhanced by the salty and sweet syrup. Simply delicious.
I was in Bangna and thought they were sausages!!
Bangkok is great - for food, shopping and Muay Thai. I used to live on the killer M-150's after training.
Posted by: Sandeep | Jan 27, 2006 12:44:13 AM
Pim-I was in Bangkok 5 years ago wandering the streets from cart to cart to look for this one woman who only made fried bananas with sesame seeds. They were the best things I have EVER tasted. I find them sometimes in restaurants in L.A. but never quite as good. I also tried recipes from a bunch of sources but they never come up as good. Is it the type of banana? Could it be the the batter made with rice flour. Please help!!!
Juli
Posted by: Juli Heinen | Jan 27, 2006 11:41:16 AM
We're enjoying your travels, Pim! Keep up the great posts!
Posted by: Ivonne | Jan 27, 2006 4:56:17 PM
ahh, those are gorgeous!! i can almost taste the sweetness from the picture! thanks!
ulterior epicure.
Posted by: Ulterior Epicure | Jan 30, 2006 2:58:53 PM
Oh, yum.
Posted by: Kathryn | Feb 14, 2006 7:22:48 PM
Do you have a recipe for Grilled banana's?
I want to know what is in the syrup...
Thanks,
Posted by: Mike | Feb 6, 2007 9:45:43 AM