Kilawing Puso ng Saging
One of our church friends had a garage sale and as I scour the place of anything I can find useful I saw this banana tree outside their garage with one hanging banana heart on it, I shouted to my excitement and my friend heard it. She told me whether I want to have it, I said yes because I never had eaten banana heart for ages now and it is not available for sale in Asian shops as well. So she gave me a knife and told me to cut it and bring it home, I was so ecstatic. A lot of things went into my mind, shall I make kare kare or curry? But another friend who was with me in the same place told me that would be nice to make a kilawin (cooked in vinegar) out of it.
Filipinos love extreme flavoured dishes like this one which is really sour, it is good if you are accustomed to the Filipino palate but I guess it would be a shock to those who aren’t but if you are a bit adventurous and want to try this out let me know what your thoughts are.
- 1 large banana heart/blossom, chopped
- 1 cup pork belly, cubed
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 onion, sliced
- ½ cup cane vinegar
- 1 cup chicken stock
- green chillies, sliced (according to your liking)
- fish sauce
- freshly ground black pepper
- oil
- Soak chopped banana heart/blossom in water with 3 tbsp salt for 15 minutes. Drain then then press to remove excess liquid.
- In a wok add oil then brown pork belly.
- Add and sauté garlic and onions
- Add the banana heart/blossoms and stir fry 5 minutes.
- Add chicken stock and vinegar bring it to a boil and simmer for 15 minutes.
- Add green chillies then season with fish sauce and freshly ground black pepper. Continue to cook for 5 more minutes in low heat.
- Remove from wok then serve.
You can buy your cane vinegar at Amazon, here are some links
- Datu Puti Cane Vinegar (Sukang Maasim)
- Datu Puti Cane Vinegar (Sukang Maasim), 33.81-Ounce Bottle (Pack of 3)
- Datu Puti Cane Vinegar Pack of 3 Bottles (1 Liter Ea.
This is a stunning dish Raymond! I can almost visualize the taste it from your ingredient list. You are such a foodie, going to garage sale and coming back with fresh produce instead.. How fun!
Sarap!
Wow this dish is so exotic. I’ve never seen a banana heart before.
Thanks for sharing what a banana heart/blossom looks like! Very interesting! I’d love to try this one. Especially with pork belly… yum!
Oh my mum made this dish some days ago, I just love the taste of it! Hope you can post some more recipes about banana hearts if you find them 🙂 I once ate at a filipino festival a banana heart in coconut sauce which was tasty as well.
looking good..
A dish with both sweet and salty flavors… I love that! I have never tried banana heart but I heard it has a very sweet, aromatic taste. I wish I could find here easily. This is one of my fave dishes of yours, Raymund!
Such an interesting recipe Raymund…I never ate anything that has the banana heart. Thanks for the post!
Enjoy the rest of your week 😀