Banana Flambe

About twenty odd years ago, I went for a short holiday in Germany. I stayed with my auntie who owned a quaint Chinese restaurant there. It was winter and the restaurant served this fried banana with ice-cream as dessert. To add on to that, the banana would be presented with liquor and set aflame in front to the customer. This banana flambe has etched itself in my mind ever since. I just love the theater, the drama that comes with the dish. It is really not a big deal but I think it serves up an excellent conversation point. It is really a genius way to elevate an otherwise common dish, both taste wise and presentation wise.

I am not making that fried banana dish today, I am just too lazy to fry bananas. Instead, I made another version that uses raw banana. I am also flambeing it in my kitchen instead of on the guests' table. But once you get the idea, you could always cook it in front of your guests. The banana itself is cooked in butter and coated with a layer of caramelize sugar. It is then drizzled with rum and set aflame to give it that additional fragrance from the rum. And best of all, your banana flambe only takes you five minutes or less to cook. 

Banana Flambe

Serves 2 person

Ingredients

1 large banana, halved length-wise (or 2 small bananas)

2 tbsp sugar (or brown sugar for darker colour)

1 tbsp butter

2 tbsp orange juice

2 tbsp rum

zest from 1/2 orange

ice-cream/whipped cream

Cooking Instruction

1. Add sugar to a frying pan and cook in medium heat until it caramelise and almost turn amber. 

2. Add in butter and spread butter around the pan. Add in orange juice and zest. Stir until you get a thick sauce. Add bananas onto the pan and fry. Turn bananas over so that it is coated generously with sauce.

Can you see the flame in orange?

...and the sizzling of the sauce?

3. Lastly, pour in rum. Be careful as rum is highly inflammable. Tilt your pan until the rum reaches the edge of the pan. It will catch fire from the stove. Alternatively, use a lighter to ignite the pan. Let fire burn off while you continue to baste the bananas with the sauce. Remove from fire and serve it with ice-cream or whipped cream.

Also check out my Crispy Fried Banana/Pisang Goreng here. This is a very popular Southeast Asian snack.