How to prepare or cook Banana Hearts for your Filipino recipes
I forgot who the superhero was in Philippine mythology (or comics) that got her/his power from a Banana heart. The instruction of the “old man” was to go to this certain Banana plant at 12 midnight, wait for it’s golden extract to drop and catch it with a wide open mouth. That is how you become a superhero, according to that legend.
Let’s get back to reality. The problem with banana heart is if you don’t prepare or cook it well, it will turn out acrid and will affect any dish that you are making if you decide to use it as an ingredient. The best way to get rid of it is to cook it separately.
The usual way to cook banana heart is to cook it with coco milk. But if you are cooking a Banana heart recipe that doesn’t need or want coco milk in it, then you are reading the right article. Here’s how you prepare your banana heart:
1. Peel off the outer layers. The rubber like outer layers of the banana has the most acrid taste and you need to discard it or use it as a plate or for something else. Use your imagination. While you are peeling it, you will see little bananas already formed on one side. You can use it, as long as you cook it properly. I don’t use it unless in soups. You will know if you have come to the edible layer because when you peel it off, the layer gets cut off and you can’t peel it as easily as the previous layers. Your banana heart will now then be ready for cooking.
2. Prepare a deep pot full of water and let’s say a teaspoon for both salt and sugar for every cup. Let it boil.
3. While the water is boiling, cut your banana heart lengthwise but do not cut through. Just cut it so the inner layers open up for cooking. Make at least 2 lengthwise cuts across so it will be cooked evenly. This is the best way to do this because if you cut it to pieces before cooking it, you will waste time straining and straining a million pieces of banana hearts. In short, this way is easier. Some do not cook their banana hearts but mash and squeeze the pieces with a lot of salt. I tried that and I didn’t like the outcome… not only that it is still a bit acrid, it is quite salty too even when I marinated it in vinegar. Maybe I just don’t know the secret.
4. After you have slashed your banana heart, and when the water is boiling already, drown your banana heart in and let it cook for at least 10 minutes.
Your banana heart is now prepared for any Filipino recipe. If your banana heart turned out black, don’t worry, that’s the way it should turn out.
I will be making a Banana heart burger so after I cooked it, I chopped it like crazy. I will be posting the recipe next. I have a banana heart extract to catch.
When we were living in Minnesota and banana hearts were a rarity, I really wanted to try using a fresh one. Now that we are here in Manila and puso ng saging is readily available, I’ve been to intimidated to try! Thanks for this straightforward tutorial!
Thank you for always dropping by
Banana hearts are famous for salads in the Philippines. The one with coco milk, Ensalada, and the one that is just with vinegar, Kilawin or Kinilaw. But Banana heart burger is closest to my heart because we’ve been doing it as far as I can remember.
Tell me about your banana heart adventures
[...] Before you jump into this recipe, you need to click here to prepare and cook your Banana heart [...]
Well done! Hearty dish for us Filipino. One banana heart costs you a fortune here in London. Cravings is above all, can’t stop it…You can buy some fresh banana heart in Chinese grocery…Cheers!
Cheers Froy! Yep the Asian market always stocks banana heart. It’s quite expensive though!
Hi! you are doing a wonderful work.Am from Africa(Uganda) and we are still missing this banana heart dish,but when i tried it once it had that acrid taste, i could even swallow a small piece of it.
Thanx for your recipes. cheers…
Today we bought a banana heart but didn’t know what to do with it. Thank you for explaining.
@new to banana heart Glad to be of service.
Thanks for sharing! No one has talked about eating the Banana heart in my neighborhood in Costa Rica and I’m surprised because even tomato leaves and pepper leaves are readily eaten as is seemingly most everything. But I read that it was eatable and because we were advised to and did cut the heart free from the already established racimo of bananas, I decided to take it back to my kitchen. Then I went searching as to how to go about preparing it… I actually already chopped it up and it’s soaking in salt water for an hour as advised… my information also said it could be ready to use in salads… I tried a piece… my mouth will never be the same… I will try cooking it for 10 minutes! ( and I will have to strain and strain…
Thanks!
Janine
Thanks for taking the time to show in picture how to prepare it. I used salt to remove the sticky juice. Thinking about it now, the nutrients were removed when salt extraction was used. Can it be cooked by steaming it to preserve the nutrients?
I didn’t “drown” my banana heart in boiling water before preparing ‘em into burger patties. No wonder they were all crumbly. ‘Tis a lesson for me. Thanks for this.
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