Chinese banana toffee is a very unique confection comprising of multiple surprising texture elements. Basically it is made as a fritter, but the process does not seem to stop there. Applying the right combination of perfect timing, and correct temperature, fried bananas are dipped in hot caramel, plunged into ice-cold water, and retrieved with out much waiting. Result is a very good looking three layer candy with a crunchy caramel coat, with fried batter skin underneath enwrapping tender pieces of sweet ripe banana. Caramel is a fun medium to play with and extreme caution will be a nice attitude to put on while we are working on it. Within the limited amount of time, when it is hot and malleable you can use it to create all different kinds of interesting structures. I decided to give this recipe a try after reading talented Gattina’s post on Caramel deep fried bananas.
Bananas ( Ripe and firm) 4
All purpose flour ¾ cup
Cornstarch ½ cup
Baking powder 1 tsp
Water ¾ cup
Sesame oil 1 tsp
Oil For deep frying
For Caramel
Sugar 1 cup
Sesame seeds (Optional) 2 tbsp
Water 4 tbsp
Ice cold water ( for quickly chilling the toffees.)
Cut bananas diagonally into thick slices. Sift the flours and baking powder together; prepare batter by adding water and sesame oil. Stir in the bananas and gently mix until coated. Heat oil in a pan; deep fry the pieces, taking care to add it one by one. Fry till golden brown, drain on paper towels. When all pieces are fried, make caramel. Mix sugar, water and sesame seeds in a pan. Heat gently, stirring occasionally till all the sugar has dissolved. Increase the heat and continue cooking without stirring, till the syrup becomes a light caramel (Heat for some more time if you desire a darker caramel, taking care not to char the sugar). Remove from the heat, and work very quickly through the rest of the steps. Drop one fritter at a time to the hot caramel, turn it over with a fork, remove immediately and plunge into the iced water, take it out, and drain on a wire rack while proceeding with the rest.
Recipe adapted from Ann Kay’s Desserts-500 Delicious Recipes.
27 comments:
oooooooooo! Who knew we can dress up a banana like this??
This recipe,it looks like I think I can give it a try atleast.
wow, mouthwatering one,have all the ingredients with me, definately will give it a try Archana and will update you.
This looks so good. I bet it tastes good too.
Archana, I prepared them, nice ...looks awesome, i'll post the picture on my blog.
Thanks for the wonderful desert.
What a beauty it is Archana..
Lovely dessert
yum yum yum!...these look good. I make caramel toffees with apples. I got my recipe from a chinese cookbook...and you are right about being careful with the caramel..my first recipe was a disaster but i improved with time
LG,
Did you like the way it looks? Do let me know once you try this out.
Lakshmi,
I was so amazed to see your second comment, So fast, oh you are super good. Can't wait to see the photo.
Thank you
Krithika
It tastes good, ie if you like caramel.Thank you for coming in.
Santhi
Thank you so much
Nabeela,
Good, caramel apples are awesome, i love it when people cover it with spun sugar. Thank you for coming in
Ramya
Thank you for coming in Ramya, hoping to see u again soon. You really don't have to stop blogging, why don't you write more about healthy recipes, which will help all of us out.
Achanat,
the candy structure you created is an art! So pretty I have no heart to eat it!
lovely looking recipe. I love the caramel thread a lot! On my to try list! Thanks!!!
Hi Archana,
Another master piece from you.
Nice picture.
i will try it one day.Hope to see more delicacies from you,Archana
Thank you.
Vineela
Hi Archana,
posted the picture on my blog, but not as good as you in decorating.
Thanks
lakshmi
that's toooooo tempting...thanx for visiting my blog...and looking forward for more ideas...
that's a good piece of art too..
That one is amazing... if you have visited "gattina"s blog, almost same recipe, caramel deep fried banana. I never thought somebody can ever try it out with so much perfection.
Its too good.
Arechant, how did you make those caramel strings attached to banana. i appreciate if you can give me the answer.
Gattina,
Thank you very much, you are very kind. You are such an inspiration!!
Bea,
Thank you for visiting, am glad that you liked it.
Vineela,
Thank you, looking forward to learn more from you too.
Lakshmi,
I saw your post, it looks good, i am pretty amazed about you doing this many stuff in the middle of packing and everything.
Doc
Thank you so much for visting, do come again. I visit your blog often, and found it very interesting. Thanks agan for the compliments.
Aparana,
I decided to try this out after reading Gattina's post. I am happy that you liked it. You can use caramel in different ways to make different kind of displays. For making the threads, i waited till the caramel cooled down to a thicker consistency, and dipped one piece and took it out with the help of a fork , moving my hands in a circular motion. You can do this spinning motion till you get the desired shape( The whole process should be fast, and be careful not to burn your hands.) Hope this helps.
Archana
Beautiful!! I feel like to try this out too. Which type of banana do you recommend?
I dont feel like taking my eyes off from that picture!
I love the fried banana we get in our fave Thai restaurant so this is right up my alley.
Btw tried your mango mousse and it was super. I scrimped on the calorie laden cream but it still tasted great :-)
That is gorgeous!
WOW!!!! Awesome presentation. Looks yummy too.
Errr... I have a question. Y do u call it Chinese Banana Toffee? I've never heard of it.
wow, what a beauty ......!
RP,
Cooking banana ( plantian) is the best, have tried with the regular banana too, but then the inside is a little bit too soggy for my taste. I am glad that u liked the post.
Sumitha
Thank you
Ashwini,
I love Thai fried bananas too, have you tried the Indian/Kerala version of it? I think LG has a post about it. I am so happy that you tried the mousse recipe, hope u liked it.
R & B
Wikipedia has well written articles about both Caramel and Toffee. Sometime we do call a cramel falvored toffee as just "caramel". but theoratically both can be very clearly and separately defined, and they have discussed all aspects in that Article. Hope this helps.
Ivonne
Thank you very much
Pushpa,
I am happy that you liked the post. The book from which i adapted the recipe, describes this as Asian, but in the restaurant where i tasted this for the first time it was described as Chinese banana toffee, there was a real name for it in chinese which i don't rememeber. In the US, it is also known as Beijing banana toffees. A google search on Chinese banana toffe will fetch you limited, but multiple entries describing this toffee under the names stated above. Hope this helps.
Lera,
Thank you
yummy..... will surely try this.....
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Cool blog, interesting information... Keep it UP »
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