Banana Flower Soup Recipe

One of the banana plants that I put in the ground two years ago has a stalk of baby bananas! I had wanted to learn to cook banana flower ever since I saw them at the Chinatown markets, so we cut the end flower pod off our tree. The pod wasn't as big as the ones you find in Chinatown but it seemed large enough to experiment with.

I read that raw banana flowers are bitter until you soak them in salted water.  I sliced about 1 1/2 inches off the stalk end of the pod and discarded it.  The rest of the pod was thinly sliced, as if it were a small head of cabbage. I put the slices into a large bowl of heavily salted water and then poured about 3 tablespoons of lime juice (or use lemon juice) over everything.  After making sure it was all mixed well, I left it to soak for an hour.

Sliced flowers soaking in salt water

After soaking, the sliced flowers were rinsed several times really well then left to drip dry while I got everything else peeled, grated, chopped and ground.

I used my food processor to grind the ginger, chilies, garam masala, and turmeric into a paste but a mortar and pestle might work just as well.

Ginger Chili Paste

I had never eaten banana flower before so I wasn't sure what to expect.  I think their consistency is like lightly cooked cabbage. The soup's flavor is very mildly spicy.  I thought the "depth" or "background flavor" of the soup was lacking so I added about 1/4 teaspoon of Kaiulani Kona Coffee seasoning and 1/4 teaspoon of Kaiulani Chinese 5 Spice seasoning. (disclaimer: I don't own any stock in the Kaiulani Spice company nor do I have any affiliation with them, I just like their mixes.) The two seasoning additions made a big difference in rounding out the flavors in the soup.

Oh, one other thing: the soup is good right after cooking but tastes so much better after sitting in the fridge overnight.

Banana Flower Soup

• 1 prepared banana flower
• 1 cup of raw shrimp
• 1 can or 14 ozs thick coconut milk
• 1 ½ inch piece ginger peeled and grated
• 1 stalk of lemongrass, or 1 tblsp sliced
• ¼ tsp tumeric
• ½ tsp garam masala
• 2 large jalapenos, or serrano chilies if you prefer a spicier soup
• salt and black pepper to taste
• oil for cooking
• water

Method

1.     Mix coconut milk with half as much water and heat with prepared banana flower, half the ginger and the lemongrass.

2.     In a heavy pan slowly heat the oil. Blend together the garam masala, tumeric, remaining ginger and chillies until a paste is made and add to the oil. Cook stirring until the aroma becomes intoxicating and the oils separate in the pan. Add the shrimp and stir fry until cooked all the way through. Add this to the coconut / banana flower mix. Stir thoroughly and simmer for 20 minutes, adding more water if needed, season to taste and serve.

3.     This soup can be prepared a day in advance and heated before serving. Allowing it to rest overnight will give time for the flavors to blend and harmonize thoroughly.