Friday 12 October 2012

Bananas - Pisang Rastali

This is another "old-timer" banana which is now no longer easily found at the markets.  It is most often eaten raw and has a lighter albeit sweet taste.  It is a medium sized banana and when ripe has brown/black patterns over it;s yellow skin making it appear like a batik design on the skin hence the its other name - pisang batik

This is one of the few varieties of banana that should fully ripen on the tree.  It takes a longer time to mature and ripen as opposed to other varieties as it takes over 4 months from the inflorescence to ready-to-eat fruit but is well worth the wait.  When the fruit is unripe it is green in color.  The brown/black patterns only appear when it is mature and almost ripe.  By the time the fruit is ready for harvest, all the leaves would have already dried out.  A healthy plant should produce about 10-12 sisir (bunch of bananas) weighing about 10-15kg in total.

I do not recommend eating the inflorescence (jantung) as it has a bitter taste.  When the fruit is ripe, it can be used as the main ingredient in making a banana cake.  It has just the right moisture content resulting in a deliciously moist banana cake.  Due to its higher sugar content and texture, it doesn't work well when turned into banana fritters as it will soak up a lot of oil.  It teams up well with ice creams making it a good choice for banana splits.

7 comments:

  1. This banana is used to be choice banana among the Indian Muslims in Singapore. Yes it is true that this banana spices is no longer easily available in the market.

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    1. Yes Sahul, when we take them to market, it finishes very fast :). Even here, it is not easy to find them at markets.

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  2. Hello, just found your site when I googled about Banana, I am trying to find information on PISANG KEPOK, that is what they called in Indonesia ( the kind that you steamed, taste is sweet with a hint of sourness), I think it is great in making " Kolak", not sure if it is available in Malaysia ( or they named in differently??), if you have any idea where to find it in KL, or if it is named differently here or if there are other similar types of banana here, let me know. It is just I suddently have a craving for pisang kepok....after not having them for so many years, the only bananas I could find here are monteal and berangan and emas ( supermarket)....thank you

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    1. Hi Melinda, I will check and let you know. Locally, a favorite to make kolak or steam would be pisang awak. Another option for a banana with a slightly sour taste would be pisang udang. You might be able to find pisang awak at wet markets or pasar tani. Pisang udang would be more rare for you to find. You can check out my articles on these two bananas and see if the pictures resemble what you saw in Malaysia. If you are familar with Sg. Penchala Sunday market - that is where I sell my produce - and would like to know when I have it for sale, just email me your contact at watighio@yahoo.com and I can let you know. Weekly, we have different varieties - depending on what is ripe. All our bananas are "naturally" grown with no chemical pesticides or fertilizers, we opt for organic and we do not have GM (genetically modified) plants such as Montel.

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  3. Thanks for the response. Just emailed you....

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  4. not good for fried plantains reason was( pisang goreng ) because many oil absorbing huh,,, this is incredible information. thank you

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