When I was still living in Singapore, it would be a nightmare to find this variety of banana. Most supermarkets don't sell them and only a handful of wet markets carry them. Most of the time, they will only have the cavendish variety that comes from Davao or the "lakatan" and "latundan". Maybe that is why the Malays use the latundan instead for their Pisang Goreng (Fried Bananas) while we Filipinos only consider saba bananas for frying.
Going back to this versatile fruit, the saba is eaten most of a time as a snack, a side dish, a dessert or even a vegetable. It is boiled, steamed, fried, broiled, cooked in sugar syrup, sliced, pounded, cubed and a lot more.
My earliest memory of this fruit is of course with the Banana-Q (Fried saba bananas then covered in brown sugar), a very common summer snack. Manang Viring will always prepare Arroz ala Cubana (Cuban Rice dish) with simple sliced fried saba. For dessert, Sweetened Saba with milk is a treat!
And of course there is turon, maruya, bikang-bikang and binangi.
Recently I was in conversation with some friends on other varieties of saba desserts. I suggested smothering butter and sprinkling sugar on fried bananas. Some suggested boiling them instead then putting butter. Another possibility is topping with chopped peanuts.
Why not put sweetened diced saba in cinnamon rolls? If they can use apple why not saba? I think that would be wonderful.
How about filling a puff pastry with saba sweetened with maple syrup, scented by a sprinkle of nutmeg and cinnamon. Plus a topping with chocolate syrup, chopped walnuts and vanilla ice cream. That would be one way to make this fruit extravagant!
Maybe I can come up with something new in class.
But in the meantime, I'll stick with my maruya. It's very simple. It's simply perfect.
PS. I love bananas, but my Beh does not. Oh well, more maruya for me then.
Magluluto kami ng Pochero sa sabado... yung favourite mo. Tapos meron kaming saging na saba... sayang wala ka ditu! ... zoo ming
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