If you’re bananas about bananas, then being in Malaysia will definitely feed your addiction.
There are so many cultivars, or variants, here that even locals have a hard time naming them all. From tiny dwarf-like ones to giants as big as your arm, bananas should come with a manual!
Here is Butterkicap’s list of popular Malaysian bananas. Many are tasty when ripe, most are fantastic deep-fried, and all make absolutely delicious kuih kodok or fried mashed banana balls when overripe!
Pisang raja
With its bright yellow skin, sweet flavour and smooth texture, pisang raja can be eaten fresh or fried. It has a mild, sweet and sour flavour and firmness that ensures it will not crumble upon being fried.
Pisang awak
Sweet and fleshy, this cultivar of banana makes the best pisang goreng, lepat (a banana leaf-wrapped dessert) or pengat (served in coconut milk with brown sugar). Just make sure you go for the non-seeded variety!
Pisang raja udang
This variant is difficult to find and looks especially unique owing to its purple to rusty-orange skin. The flesh itself is similar in colour to other banana cultivars, with a sweet and slightly sour flavour.
Pisang lemak manis
This banana is petite, bright yellow, fleshy, and – as the name suggests – milky sweet. Fun fact: when planted, it will be fully grown within four months.
Pisang tanduk
This giant of a banana is fantastic for making pengat, given its slightly sour flavour that balances perfectly with the sweetness of dark brown sugar and the saltiness in coconut.
Pisang helang
Similar to pisang tanduk, this banana is also rather huge. The difference is in its flavour and colour: it is not sour, and the flesh is pale compared to the darker yellow of the pisang tanduk.
This banana is also good for making pengat, especially if you’re not too keen on the sourness of the tanduk variety.
Pisang nangka
Unlike other bananas, this cultivar remains green even when ripe. Once it turns yellow, the banana is considered overripe and the flesh too soft to be eaten, at which point you can mash it up to make kuih kodok.
This variant is also delicious when battered and deep-fried. Like pisang tanduk, its flavour is sweet and slightly sour.
Pisang rastali
Delicious when ripe, pisang rastali or latundan banana is commonly enjoyed after a meal as dessert. While the skin is not as pretty as it is often peppered with dark spots, it has a wonderful aroma and sweet flesh inside.
Pisang emas
Petite in size, pisang emas is commonly enjoyed after a meal. When overripe, you will find that the skin sticks to the flesh inside – at which point, it is best made into kuih kodok.
Pisang abu
This variety of banana is not usually eaten ripe due to its mild flavour and often rubbery texture.
Pisang berangan
Sweet with a lovely aroma, this banana is best enjoyed as a dessert when it is fully ripe. Its firm flesh makes it perfect for deep-frying.
Banana recipes you’ll love
Here are some tasty treats and the best bananas to use for them:
- Curries: pisang abu, pisang lemak manis
- Pengat: pisang tanduk, pisang helang
- Lepat: pisang awak
- Goreng: pisang awak, pisang berangan, pisang raja
- Rebus: pisang awak
- Kuih kodok: any and all overripe pisang!
This article first appeared in butterkicap.com, a food and culture platform and community that enables anyone to experience Malaysia through stories of its people, food and places.