Puso ng saging burgers

 

Puso ng saging

Banana Heart burgers/ Puso ng Saging burgers

Banana hearts are actually where the banana grows from on a banana tree and they are some weird looking things. I’d never even heard or seen them before I’d come to the Philippines. They are reddish and oval shaped with a faint gassy aroma. They certainly wouldn’t have been something I’d have assumed you could eat if I’d just seen one of them on the ground.

However, despite the slightly odd appearance and strange smell, they are delicious and when made into burgers are quite simply yummy! They are filling, easy to make, if a bit time consuming, and often people don’t realise that there isn’t even a tiny bit of meat in them. This recipe was a joint discovery of me and my Ate Jean. We cook these on a regular basis for the kids at the charity we work with and they love them too. They are nutritious and when cooked in minimal oil or even better, in olive oil, you have one very healthy and filling dish.

Ingredients

1 Large Banana heart,
2 Onions,
4 Cloves of garlic,
2 Eggs,
2 TBSP white flour,
3 Pinches of salt

 

The yellow bits are the buds, take the steams out and chop up the bud 🙂

Method

1. Peal the red leaves off the heart.
2. Take the stems out from the inside of the buds (which would have become bananas had they been left on the tree).
3. Discard the stem and chop the buds.
4. Continue to peal the leaves until only the white leaves are left.
5. Then slice fairly thin and then chop up.
6. Put all the chopped banana heart in one bowl once chopped.
7. Wash thoroughly. Drain the water and squeeze excess water from the heart.
8.  Add the salt, onion, garlic and mix thoroughly.
9.  Add the flour and eggs. It should be a sticky consistency
10.  Heat a frying pan, add a little oil and turn the heat to low.
11.  Put a dessert spoon amount of the banana heart mixture in the frying pan and flatten down with the back of a spoon until it is the thickness you want.
12.  Fry for about 2 mins on either side.
13. Time to eat na!

completed burgers

Estimated number of burgers: 15

Estimated complete cost: P75

Estimate price per burger: P5

Estimate length of time: 1 hour

Serving suggestion:  Put in a sandwich with lettuce, tomato, ketchup and some cheese…sarap!