Skip to main content

Going bananas over "sab-a"

The sab-a (saba) is among (if not) the most versatile variety of the banana family. It can be cooked in dishes like pochero, eaten as is when ripe and made into a variety of desserts too. It's also a common sight in the markets and knows no season at all so it can be enjoyed all throughout the year. Among my favorite desserts made with saba is minatamis na saging, simply sweetened banana. The saba is simply boiled in water and sugar or at times with condensed milk to give it a well sweet taste. On it's or used in halo halo, this treat is a sure fire hit.
Adding shaved iced to minatmais na saba transform it into saba con hielo, a popular cooler and much easier to prepare than halo-halo. Adding milk gives more flavour to this simple yet effective iced dessert.
Going a notch higher makes an even better cooler - a shake! This banana-peanut shake is an adaptation of the famous Jonah's shake in Boracay. I was introduced into this by an office mate before that we decided on making one ourselves. There's also a choco-banana-peanut variety.
If you're into baking, then a banana cake is among the easiest recipe. Though I haven't made one myself but eaten tons of it - lol, it just involves simple ingredients like crushed saba, of course, sugar, flour, baking and a whole lot more. And after some time, a delicious banana cake comes out of the oven.
But if you're not into baking, the simplest way of enjoying a cooked saba is simply frying it. usually it's the half ripe saba that is fried then it is topped with sugar. But what I like best is fryign the ripe or even those over ripe ones. They're sweet enough on their and no need to add sugar.

There is yet a myriad of other ways of enjoying sab-a and these are just a few of them but enough to make me go bananas!

Popular posts from this blog

I dream of bacon at Days Hotel Iloilo ...

I could smell the aroma and hear the crackling sound of bacon as it sizzled on the griller but when I was  about to devour it, I just couldn't taste it. I took a mouthful again and it just remained elusive. On my third try, I finally had a bite of something but it tasted nowhere like a bacon. Then I woke up and realized I was biting into my pillow and just came from dreamland ... I found myself enjoying one of the Superior Rooms at Days Hotel Iloilo a few days ago. It's among the newly renovated rooms and among the few that actually has a window to the outside world. I had a very humongous bed and around four of myself could fit in - but maybe three for "me" to be comfortable. But I'd rather be alone enjoying the room and the pillows for I just love the pillows at Days Hotel Iloilo ever since. The Superior Room is big for its class and has simple yet classy interiors. It has a sitting corner and a sort of office nook perfect for business travelers as...

Ultimate Ilonggo Favorite: KBL Kadyos, Baboy, Langka

K.B.L. or Kadyos, Baboy, Langka is the ultimate favorite dish of most Ilonggos. It is also one of the most missed native dishes as kadyos and the souring ingredient, batwan , are hard to find when outside of the Ilonggo region.  Basically, it is boiled/stewed pork dish owing its "deliciousness" to the combination of the soft and tender pork, the tamed sourness of  batwan  and the  malinamnam na sabaw .  One of the "secrets" of the malinamnamn na sabaw , is the fact that the pork, whether just the plain meat or pata (hocks) are first grilled or broiled. This gives the broth a rather smoky taste that makes it more appetizing.. Learn how to make the Ilonggo dish KBL (Kadyos, Baboy, at Langka) with the recipe below. Ingredients 1 kilo Pata (pork hocks) or pork cubes, GRILLED and sliced into bite size pieces  1 unripe Jack fruit, cubed 2 cups pigeon pea (kadyos) 6-8 pieces batwan fruit  (or tamarind powder) 1 piece por...

An Ilonggo favorite - Valenciana

Found in almost all occasions like fiesta, birthdays, reunions and others, Ilonggos really love valenciana because most if not all have grown accustomed of having it in special gatherings at home.  A complete " go, grow and glow " dish because it has the carbohydrates, protein and vitamins and minerals in just one spoonful, Valenciana is really an " occasional dish ".  Here's the recipe for Valenciana

Easy Century Tuna Recipes

If you're looking for simple, easy  and delicious Century Tuna recipes online, congratulations, you've found it right here! How about spicy tuna sisig or tuna sinigang ? Maybe stir fried tuna with pickles or just yang chow fried rice .  I love Century Tuna from its flakes in oil variety, the spicier the better, but when I discovered the versatility of its solid variant, it became an obsession. At first I was just into the usual tested recipes; pasta and sandwich filling, but then it got simpler – I just eat it straight from the can! Usually with a piece of bread or an apple. I just add a few drops of vinegar to spice it up a bit. Then came the experiments. Yup I got tired of that habit that one day, I decided to test my skills in the kitchen. Serendipity, you might call it yet most of them turned into good recipes that I have shared now and then. Satisfying my Palabok cravings had me experiment on this recipe on the spot. With Century Tuna in lieu of the us...

Takway

The gabi (taro) is just one of those plants which is edible from "roots to tops". The most popular of which is the tuber part which is used in a variety of dishes and mostly in combination with coconut milk. Its leaves, of course, is the main ingredient of a Bicol specialty, laing . It is dried then chopped and sauteed with other ingredients including, again, coconut milk. Then there is takway . The local term for its tendrils/runner, that part which is torn between being a stem or a root for it neither grows upwards nor downwards - it grows sideways . Scraped off of its outer skin, takway is often a key ingredient in vegetable dishes like laswa and the gabi tuber with coconut milk and local snails know as bago-ngon . It is also popular when cooked adobo style with guinamos , the local bago-ong . It is very popular in the region that even big supermarkets sell takway in style - cleaned and plastic wrapped in styro with some additions to make it easier to prepare. ...