Friday, May 27, 2011

Godok Pisang, coming up!

It's summer! Aside from my hopes of outdoor pot gardening as I mentioned earlier, I enjoy frugal grocery shopping which often results in creative ways to prepare the food I've bought. Today there were 5/lb bags of bananas for $1.29. I can't leave the red sticker items alone, and I bought the bag, fully knowing that my commitment to 17 bananas was ambitious. Being in the south and enduring 90 plus degrees every day already, baking banana bread for an hour was out of the question. Banana-cantaloupe or strawberry smoothies are always a healthy and cool choice for summer, but is there something to do with bananas beyond the mundane and expected? Why, thanks to the internets, I discovered there is!

Godok Pisang is a fried banana fritter that apparently is quick to prepare and delicious for tea time. It is a a ubiquitous snack in Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, Singapore and other south east Asian countries. I found this photo and recipe on a Singaporean food blogger's site. It is a very informative and also attractive food blog.


"If you have overripe bananas but are sick of making banana bread/muffins/smoothies, try this for a change. Kuih kodok or godok pisang. Gorgeously caramelised fritters using mashed bananas. Easy as pie. In fact, easier than pie! This recipe is very roughly adapted from Bananas.org (see last post), but I used a lot more fruit."

INGREDIENTS

8-9 medium ripe bananas (those with blackened skin are perfect)
1 cup flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon of salt
Oil for frying

METHOD

1. Mash bananas into pulp (I used a potato masher).
2. Add flour, baking powder and salt. Mix well. Your batter should be thick.
3. Heat oil (about 2-inches deep) in wok or deep pan using medium heat.
4. Use a large spoon to scoop and drop the batter into the hot oil. Hold the spoon low and close to the oil, so you don't get a nasty splatter.
5. Fry a few at a time until golden brown. Don't put too many in the oil at once because the oil temperature will drop too much and the dough will absorb oil and turn soggy.
6. Repeat until batter is finished.
You can see the ones I made are not as spherical as the ones sold outside. That's because I used more fruit and less flour, so they don't hold their shape as well. But they taste a whole lot nicer!

I think when some of the bananas get old, I'll make green sun tea and whip up some Godok Pisang. Just because it's summer, and I can!

2 comments:

MTVA said...

I enjoy your blog very much, just have not got around to commenting!

Something I like to do with too many ripening bananas is mash them, put in small containers to freeze. In the hot weather it's almost as refreshing as ice cream. Or I put the frozen banana at the bottom of a bowl of cut up fruit, it keeps everything else chilly as you work your way thru the fruits.

Now I'm going to try your fritters!

Elizabeth Prata said...

thank you MTVA! Come visit and/or comment anytime.

About the mashed, frozen bananas, Don't they get brown, though?

It has been so hot, I have not tried making the Godok Pesang yet (plus, the bananas are not brown yet) but I did try this and it was delicious! The whole thing took 5 min

Cinnamon Sauteed Bananas
From chef and author Julia Child, 1996

Ingredients
4 large bananas about 8 inches long - (they should be just firmly ripe or very slightly under ripe so they will hold their shape)
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon or so powdered cinnamon
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
2 to 4 tablespoons unsalted butter

Special Equipment Suggested: a 10 - inch frying pan, slant sided non-stick recommended.

Directions

Peel the bananas, cut into crosswise slices 1/4 inch thick, and toss in a bowl with the sugar, cinnamon and lemon juice.

When ready to cook, set the frying pan over moderately high heat, add the butter, and when bubbling scoop in the bananas.

Holding the pan by it's handle, toss the bananas in the pan every 10 seconds or so for 2 to 3 minutes until the bananas are tender -- the slices should still hold their shape and be slightly caramelized.

Serve on a warm plate, and you might accompany them with sugar cookies or ginger snaps. Vanilla ice cream, sour cream, or heavy cream are other possibilities. Serves 4