since our pork pick up was a bust, and we were going to stay in the area last weekend, and we were driving from va to dc, we decided to stop by our favorite asian store in the area, h-mart. our fridge, which is normally full of goodies, was pretty sparse, save for the many condiments on the inside of the door. so we decided to make the stop, despite the fact that it was early afternoon on a saturday and this is prime time for shopping.

when we got there, it was more crowded than i've ever seen. there were flavor profile samples everywhere. i'd guess that there were at least 25 different tables set up with asians cooking samples of food for passersby to taste. miso soup, dumplings, kimchi, korean pears, persimmons, plum wine, the list goes on. there was even two guys cutting up this huge tuna (i would guess like 50 lbs?) right next to the seafood department, cutting up samples and leaving them out for people to try. i have to say, some of these older asian ladies just don't give a crap: i saw one lady pick up a toothpick, and spear almost every piece of (raw) tuna, dip it in the spiced soy sauce, and devour it! there were only scraps left for the rest of us to try. it was as if she had fasted the night before just so she could come to h-mart to feast! un-freaking-believable.

so as we were shopping around, i picked up some asian long beans and some pork belly (i know i know. we're getting pork soon, but i wanted to pick just a little bit up to make adobong sitaw), some organic miso (which i've never bought before, so i was anxious to get some home and use it), and all the things we normally get: scallions (6 bunches for $1 - what a steal!), cilantro, italian flat leaf parsley, sage, and other herbs, etc. but this time, instead of passing by this large flower bud looking thing, i picked it up, bagged it, and threw it in the cart ($1.99/lb, and the one i chose was .87lbs). ah, the banana flower!

while perusing the other items, i called my mom and asked her if she knew anything about it. she thought i was talking about dried banana flower, and was mentioning kare-kare. i didn't feel like making kare-kare, and honestly, i haven't yet built up the courage to make it, though, i think in the near future, i'll give it a try (but no tripe please). my mom wasn't sure about the fresh banana flower, but that didn't stop me from taking it home and figuring out what to do with it. this is where the rest of the story goes downhill.

once we got home, i did a brief search of banana flower recipes on the interweb, and based on the ingredients we had in the pantry, i decided to prepare it this way.

i chopped the banana flower as Aparna did on the website above. i let it soak in aciduated water for about an hour. then, i sauted sliced onion and the spices until the onion softened a little, then added the chopped (strained) banana flower. i think i let it cook for 40 minutes or so, but when i went to taste it, eck! not only did it have no flavor whatsoever, despite me adding more salt and more spices, but it had a weird texture. i can only describe it this way: it's like eating the inside peel of a banana, the part that is fragile and stringy that connects to the banana. yeah, something like that. i mean, it kinda makes sense because i'm describing how it is similar to the inside of a banana peel, and well, it is from the same plant. but, needless to say, i didn't think cooking it longer would have helped so we ended up tossing it. (hmph.)

just now i was looking up more recipes and maybe when i'm braver i'll try making it again. i saw something about people cooking it in salted water first (or a pressure cooker, which is on my list of things that i don't yet own but want), some people use it in salads, some peel all the leaves (i peeled most of the purples leaves, sorry i don't have more pictures). i also didn't remove the pistils from the mini flowers within each layer of the banana flower peel, and i seem to recall tasting it and pulling it out cause it was inedible. so, all in all, i really botched up the banana flower. i think next time i am going to try this recipe.

i'm a little bit disappointed in myself because i didn't do enough research before i started chopping the banana flower, to make sure i understood which parts could be eaten, which parts would be bitter, (i read that some people say that the outer leaves are bitter and one should peel them off before chopping), etc. i guess this is just a lesson for me to do my homework before delving into such an exotic adventure. oh well. if anyone has experience with the banana flower, please leave me a comment and give me some tips!

Labels: cooking