Banana Cue

Many happy memories of my childhood is tied with banana cue. I remember that many of us kids in the neighborhood would watch Nang (Manang) Sinta cook banana cue in her usual spot across from Divine Word College in Tagbilaran City, Philippines. I don't know what her secret is (because we all saw how she cooked it), but, to this day, I think she has the best banana cue I've ever tasted!

Well now, on to my foray into banana cue making....

Ingredients:

This recipe is so simple that all you really need is some bananas, brown sugar, and oil for deep frying. For the bananas, I use plantains or burros, whichever is available. Oh, and don't forget the sticks or skewers or cues (Just a side note here: the skewers resemble the cues used for pool or billiards, hence the name banana cue, or so I've heard).

Directions:

Heat the oil in a deep fry pan. To get that perfect caramelized coating on all your bananas, it is best to cook all of them at the same time, so use a big-enough pan.

Add the brown sugar (enough to coat the bananas you prepared).

Once the brown sugar starts to melt, add the bananas. If you see the sugar rise up to the surface of the oil, you know it's time to add the bananas. Keep stirring to evenly coat them.

Take the coated bananas out of the pan, making sure you remove the excess oil, and skewer them.

And lastly...though they look delicious fresh out of the pan, be careful, they're HOT! :)