Of Bananas

I grew up in a tropical country, so bananas were almost always on the menu. In fact, I use to eat them whenever I got bored when I was little. It also helped that we always had several varieties of bananas, none of which ever saw the light of a US grocery store. We'd have one variety that was strictly for cooking, another for babies and yet another strictly for export. We'd have really tiny ones, really long one and really fat ones. Then there was the differences in taste. Some bananas were really sweet, while others were a bit more mild. I'm going to try to show you three bananas most commonly sold in Philippine grocery stores.

Latundan

Latundan bananas are my favorite bananas. According to Wikipedia these bananas have an apple-like flavor (probably why in parenthesis it is also called Apple bananas or Manzana bananas). According to me, they don't taste like any apple I've ever tasted, but that's probably just me. They do have a  what I would call a mild banana flavor and can be eaten raw. These bananas have thinner skins than most varieties of bananas, making them more susceptible to bruising and having little flies flying around them. Since their skins are quite thin, latundan bananas are rarely exported.

Legend has it that latundan bananas are perfect for babies who are starting to eat solid food. I think it's because this banana are quite delicate; delicate taste and delicate skin. Older people say that it's easier to digest, but I have yet to see scientific evidence of this. At any case, always consult your pediatrician first before feeding your baby anything.

Size of the Latundan Banana compared to a tablespoon

Saba
Saba bananas are my second favorite bananas and they are strictly for cooking. As kid I would sneak one off a bunch and eat it raw. My mom would also warn me about getting diarrhea from eating it raw. I never did, though. Despite being used strictly for cooking, Saba bananas have a distinctly different look from Plantains. Saba bananas are what I call short and fat. They have a bulky squarish look to them. When raw, Saba bananas have a slightly sweeter taste than Latundan bananas and they feel a bit more fibrous. When cooked though, their sweetness multiplies and they become softer.

Unripe Saba banana

Ripe Saba banana

There are an endless number of ways to cook Saba bananas. The easiest is boiling them. If you plan to do this, do not peel the bananas while cooking and remember to add just a touch of oil in the pot so they don't stick to each other. The next easiest is frying them (peel, slice, fry). Once you've mastered these two techniques, you can do slightly more complicated recipes like Turon (wrap in spring roll wrapper, fry and sprinkle brown sugar) or Banana Cue (sprinkle brown sugar while frying, skewer). You can also add these bananas to desserts like ginataan (dessert cooked in coconut milk) or savory dishes like nilaga (Filipino beef stew).

Boiled Saba banana, notice the squarish shape it has

Lacatan
Now if you love than banana flavor, Lacatan bananas are perfect for you. Unlike Latundan and Saba bananas which have pale cream colored flesh, Lacatan bananas have a darker yellowish-orange flesh and is definitely sweeter. They also have a very distinctly banana smell. They thicker skins allow them to be far more hardy than the Latundan. I always imagined Lacatan bananas as the bananas used in banana splits. Personally, I don't like eating these raw, but they are perfect for things like banana pancakes and banana bread since Lacatan bananas get too sweet from me when they are ripe. Plus they banana flavor will not be overpowered by the addition of other ingredients.

Lactan when peeled