Kluay or Thai Bananas, big or small, raw, boiled, fried, BBQued, sun dried, soaked in syrup or even boiled in syrup, these are just some of the ways bananas are eaten in Thailand, still at least they are good for you unlike many things we eat in the west, although I would rather knock the boiled ones on the head, they don't look nor sound too appetizing, probably a bit too sweet.

In all there are over 20 varieties of bananas in Thailand, so plenty of choice for the banana connoisseur, personally I prefer the larger sweet ones as the tiny little ones are too much work, well to my mind anyway, but the smaller ones can be a bit sweeter than the full size ones.

Small Thai bananas.




Making Fried Banana Crisps (Making Banana Crisps - Gluay Tort)

Naked bananas being grilled, need to use the firmer bananas for the BBQ and grilling, ripe or soft ones tend to fall apart as your cooking.



These have a yellow tinge to them, maybe syrup or maybe softer ones and thats why the skin is still partially attached.



This market has lots of customers so she loaded up the grill ready for them, it's a good business for some of them, especially if you have a bit of land and grow your own bananas, that helps the profit margin.






Thai Bananas in Coconut Milk (Kluai Buat Chi)

Wonderfully quick and easy recipe for a popular Thai dessert.

Makes 4 servings.

Ingredients

2-3 small, slightly green bananas
4 cups thin coconut milk
1 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions

Slice the bananas lengthways, then in half.
Pour the coconut milk into a pan, add the sugar and salt. Bring to the boil, add the bananas, bring back to the boil for 2 minutes and then remove from the heat.
Serve hot or cold.

More Thai Recipes.

Thai Food For Newbies