Plantains

[tommytouch]

Does anybody know if plantains (green, unripe) are available here? I don't recall seeing them in any markets. They might be called kluai num wa.

Thanks

[IMA_FARANG]

They should be. Yes they are called kluai num wa. They are cooked (boiled with skins on, then the peel is removed, and they are cut into sections) and used in a popular Thai dessert, Plantains in Coconut Milk, called kluai boud chee. (I love it). Not recommended for diabetics however, due to the high sugar content.

They may be a seasonal fruit...but at the right time they should be available in the Thai market. Sometimes bannanas are substitued for the Plantains, but I prefer the Plantains as they are not as sweet.

You can get it at S&P restaurants for dessert...I guess if the Plantains are in season/available.

[theseahorse]

Aren't Kluai Num Wa the standard bananas you get everywhere here all year round? They're avaliable at the end of my soi and in every market here in Bangkok. You just use the unripe green ones to make dishes like Kluai Boud Chee.

For frying and grilling Kluai Hak Mook are normally used though. Depends on what you want to do with them, but they are all quite different to the Plantains I've used in the past.

[tommytouch]

Ok, thanks.

The plantains I'm used to are basically big green bananas, and generally treated more like a potato than a fruit.

I've never searched for them but don't recall seeing them anywhere here.

Wil have to search the markets, and if no luck then find the next best thing.

[theseahorse]

The two main bananas that are used for cooking here are Nam Wa and Hak Mook, as I mentioned before. Although they are very good for Thai dishes, they are very different to a plantain. As you said, a plantain is treated more like a potato, whereas generally in Thailand green bananas are still used as a fruit.

But, as I'm sure you are aware, a plantain isn't just a green banana, whereas the Thai equivilant is just an unripened banana. I used plantains alot when working in the Caribbean and carried on using them in restaurants in London. Sadly, Thailand doesn't seem to have a plantain of their own and I can't ever imagine Thai's importing bananas.

I use to do a Mahi Mahi dish served with a plantain rosti that I'd love to recreate here, but none of the local bananas seem to be suitable. If you have any luck let me know.

[flemmie]

Nope, have not seen them at all, I would love to have platanos, or a tasty bolon de verde...