Two delicious street foods from the Philippines

Daniel Neman

All you need to know about banana cue is that it is caramelized, fried banana, served on a stick.

Its cousin, camote cue? That’s caramelized, fried sweet potato, served on a stick.

I know a guy who doesn’t like sweet potatoes. “There is nothing you could do to a sweet potato that would make me like it,” he has said.

Even deep fry it and caramelize it?

“Even that,” he said.

So he has no interest in camote cue, although I still think he would enjoy it if he tried it. And that’s fine. It just means more camote cue and banana cue for the rest of us.

Both of the cues, banana and camote, are popular street foods in the Philippines. You are especially likely to find them as a mid-afternoon snack, or meryenda. I imagine they are particularly popular among children coming home from school, but adults adore them, too.

In the Philippines they use a squatter, thicker, starchier variety of banana called saba bananas, also known as cardaba bananas. That’s a perfect ingredient, but they can be hard to find in this country, so I used burro bananas.

I also decided to try to make banana cue with plantains, and they worked fine. They are certainly hearty enough to be fried with ease, and they happen to taste great when fried and caramelized. But they aren’t as sweet as the burro bananas, and I missed that extra dimension.

Fried banana with brown sugar, on a stick. TNS

Your pot will be so clean you’ll want to use it again to make more banana or camote cue.

CAMOTE CUE

Yield: 6 servings

3 cups oil, for frying

3 sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch slices

1/2 cup brown sugar

1. Pour oil into a large pot. Heat over medium heat until hot enough to deep fry, about 375 degrees.

2. Carefully add the slices; the oil should immediately start to bubble. Turn slices occasionally until beginning to turn light brown. Sprinkle brown sugar over top and cook sweet potatoes, turning occasionally with tongs or a spoon.

3. Camote cue is done when the sweet potatoes are a golden brown all over and can easily be pierced with a fork or sharp knife. Remove from oil and allow to cool for a minute. Place 2 or 3 pieces on a skewer, and serve warm.

Per serving: 423 calories; 36 g fat; 3 g saturated fat; no cholesterol; 1 g protein; 25 g carbohydrate; 14 g sugar; 2 g fiber; 39 mg sodium; 30 mg calcium

BANANA CUE

Yield: 6 servings

Oil for frying

6 saba or burro bananas, or 3 plantains, peeled

1/2 cup brown sugar

1. Pour oil into a pot big enough to hold all the bananas or plantains; the oil should be at least high enough to come about halfway up the side of the bananas, 2 to 3 cups, depending on the size of the pot. Heat over medium heat until hot enough to fry, about 375 degrees.

2. Carefully add the bananas (cut the plantains in half first, if using); the oil should immediately start to bubble. Turn bananas occasionally until beginning to turn light brown. Sprinkle brown sugar over top and cook, turning bananas occasionally with tongs and spooning sugared oil over the top of bananas if they are above the oil.

3. Banana cue is done when the bananas are a golden brown all over. Remove from oil and allow to cool for a couple of minutes. Place 1 or 2 pieces on a skewer, and serve warm.

Tribune News Service