Thailand - Food - Bananas

Thailand girl banana biggest In Thailand bananas or kluai are in season all year round. Thai bananas come in all shapes, sizes and colours. There are almost spherical, golf ball-sized kluai khai tao, translated as “turtle egg banana”; curved, scented bananas - kluai leb mue nang, the “dancer's finger-end banana” and many more exotic species as well as the regular ones we know in the west. The lady on the left shows off the biggest bananas we've ever seen.

Feeding a four year old bananas Bananas are very cheap in Thailand compared to those in the UK , around 40 baht will buy you a couple of hands of bananas for you to enjoy. They are cheap enough for tourists to buy them as elephant food! (left) There are frittered plantains, a small firm banana, on sale as street food all over Slices banana fritters - about 6 or 8 for 20 baht Thailand for about 20 baht for about 100 or so grams and the banana (and chocolate) roti is another favourite.

The banana leaf is used to wrap food prior to cooking. Around Pathum Thani province there is a particularly nice coconut and rice flour desert cooked in banana leaf.

Banana leaf cooking container When you look inside - a coconur and rice flour pudding

These tasty desert snacks that have a coconut caramel flavour cost about 20 baht from street vendors.

Research over the years has shown that the potassium-packed fruit can probably help boost brain powers and alertness in children, aiding their learning process. The fruit is high in potassium, yet low in salt, it has been shown that the humble banana can help lower blood pressure and reduce the risk of death by strokes by as much as 40%. It can also help regulate the body's water balance.

Growing Bananas - yes they grow upwards! - banana photo