How to Clean Banana Flower for Cooking

My next recipe, rather post, “How to clean Banana Flower for Cooking”, is dedicated to the largest herbaceous plant benefiting humans in multiple ways. When I decided to post a recipe using banana flower, I first thought of including the process of how to clean banana flower as part of the recipe. However, I didn't want to end up with a long post and instead settled posting clean banana flower process as a separate topic. Most of you would be already knowing. But for folks who do not know, Banana Flower is edible and used widely in Asian cuisine for its delicious taste and other amazing health benefits. Just to name a few :-

• Wards Off Infections
• Reduces Free Radical Activity
• Reduces Menstrual Bleeding
• Manages Diabetes And Anemia
• Rich Source Of Vitamins And Minerals
• Boosts Mood And Reduces Anxiety
• Helps Nursing Mothers

With such wonderful benefits, it is advisable to include this wonderful flower in your diet, atleast once a month, if not week, especially for young women. Ok, now lets get into the details. It always reminds me of my botany labs ;-D

Clean Banana Flower

Cleaning Banana Flower

Revathi Palani

Learn in detail about how to clean banana flower before cooking. Banana flower | Banana Blossom is extensively used in Asian cuisine.

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Ingredients

  

• 1 Banana Flower
• 1 Tbsp Oil
• 2 Cups Thin Buttermilk

Instructions

 

• First keep aside a large bowl of very thin buttermilk. We will be adding the chopped banana florets into the buttermilk to stop them changing color.<br>
• Apply oil to your fingers, else after cleaning, you will end up with sticky fingers.
• Remove the outer most layer of the banana flower. You will see a row of smaller florets. Each once of these florets will convert to a banana after growing.
  
  
   
• Discard the pink outer layer you just removed. The individual small florets is what we will consume. But before consuming we need to remove 2 inedible portion from the floret.
  
  
  
• One is the stamen which is identified by a long filament with a small bulb at the top. The other one is a plastic like flap which is right near the bottom of the floret. After removing the inedible portions, you are done with the floret.
  
  
   
• Repeat the same process with all florets and all layers of the banana flower. Optionally, for the florets where the bottom white portion is large chop them off.
  
  
   
• Once you reach the absolute center of the flower, you will find a white solid piece. You will not be able to remove any further layers. This white portion is also edible.
• Also, as you go towards the center, the florets will be smaller and white. You will not be able to remove the filament and flap from those florets. You can use those tender florets as it is.
• Chop up the cleaned florets and the center white portion into small pieces and immerse in the buttermilk, until you need to cook.

Notes | FAQ

- Vegans can use just 2 Cups water + 1 Tbsp lemon juice instead of buttermilk. Or use the banana flower immediately after cleaning.