How to Make a Filipino-Style Fried Banana

The Filipino-style fried banana natively called "bananaque," with varying spellings across the Philippines, including "banana cue" or "banana q," is a snack food made from semi-ripe "saba," a common cooking variety of banana in the country. It is deep-fried with caramelized sugar until the banana becomes golden brown. Once cooked, each piece of banana is skewered on a bamboo stick. Vendors sell this popular street food in public places both in the cities and rural areas.

Things You'll Need

• 1/2 liter cooking oil
• Deep fryer
• 16 pieces of semi-ripe bananas
• 1/4 kg brown sugar
• Plate
• Bamboo skewers

Instructions

1. Preheat the oil in a deep fryer to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

2. Peel off the skin from the bananas and place each one on a plate.

3. Pour 3 to 5 tbsp. of brown sugar over each banana. Leave the rest of the sugar on the plate and allow each banana to roll around in the sugar.

4. Put each sugar-coated banana into the heated oil for deep-frying. The number of bananas to deep fry at a time depends on the size of the pan. Three to five pieces may fit in most regular pans. Do not overcrowd the bananas for better cooking and to prevent the banana pieces from sticking together.

5. Stir the bananas around in the oil continuously to allow the sugar to melt. Continue deep-frying for five to 10 minutes or until the bananas are golden brown.

6. Remove the deep-fried bananas from the oil, drain and transfer to a plate.

7. Skewer each banana with a bamboo stick. Each stick typically has two bananas skewered onto it.

Tips & Warnings

• The best bananas to use for bananaque are those that are still a little soft, but not fully ripe so that they don't get mushy when deep-fried.

• If you want more caramelized sugar on the bananas, put more sugar on each piece before deep-frying.

References

• FoodNetwork.com: Filipino-Style Wrapped and Deep-Fried Bananas
• Filipino-Food-Recipes.com: Bananaque (Banana-Q) - Skewered Fried Banana with Caramelized Brown Sugar Coating
• Reel and Grill: Banana Que (Deep Fried Banana with Caramelized Sugar)
• Lutong Pinoy Recipe: Bananaque
• Overseas Pinoy Cooking: Banana-que
• Filipino Food Store: Banana-cue

Resources

• Recipes Around the World: How to Make Banana and Camote Cue
• Jun-blog: On Frying Bananas and Making Banana-cue
• I Heart Manila: Banana-que
• Foodhism: Banana Que -- Your Life Is On A Stick ? Banana Que (The Filipino Version)
• Manong Ken Ilio's Carinderia: Banana Cue