AFF Philippines - Banana-que & Kamote-que

Are you surprised when I tell you that I NEVER eat Philippines food AT ALL? Not even the snack, let alone the dishes! That is despite many remarks I got that I look like Philippino hahahaha...

So, I was pretty surprised when I saw many of their food is actually similar to Chinese or even Indonesian!
Now, I have a new category in my ever long to do list - Pinoy food! :)

Okay, let me start with the easiest street snacks
I first saw it in a site called Overseas Pinoy Cooking and I was eager to try
It's actually a simple deep fry banana and sweet potato cuts, coated with brown sugar
What makes it interesting is, the sugar coating was done during the frying instead of rolling the fried banana and/or sweet potato cuts in brown sugar

Sounds calorific? Well, most snacks do. But giving a try is always harmless, agree? We do not eat this everyday, anyway
It's in fact good to broaden our knowledge - in this case, food. And to know is not complete if we have not tried it ourselves, IMHO :)

So, here they are... banana-que & kamote-que (I discovered that some wrote it as 'que', some 'cue' - I'm not sure which one is correct, anybody can help?)

Recipe is from HERE (for banana-que) and HERE (for kamote-que)

What you need:
(half recipe below)

8 pcs ripe saba bananas / 250g sweet potato (kamote)
1/4 cup brown sugar, divided into two (one part for banana, the other is for sweet potato)
vegetable oil for deep frying
bamboo skewer

For banana-que:

• Trim both ends of each banana and peel off skin
• In a large wok at high flame heat cooking oil put all the bananas in the wok and deep fry for 3-5 mins or until colour change to golden brown
• Sprinkle brown sugar over the bananas and continue to fry and stirring occasionally for 2-3 mins or until sugar has melted and have infused to the bananas
• Do not overcook, remove bananas from wok and drain excess oil
• Push bamboo skewer into each fried banana

For kamote-que:

• Using a small knife remove skin of each sweet potato and slice crosswise about 1/2 inch thick
• In a large wok at high flame heat cooking oil. Put the sliced sweet potato in the wok and deep fry for 8-10 mins or until color change to light brown (mine was less than 5 mins cos I sliced thinner)
• Sprinkle brown sugar over the sweet potato and continue to fry and stirring occasionally for 3-5 mins or until sugar has melted and have infused to the sweet potato
• Remove sweet potato from wok and drain excess oil
• Using large bamboo skewer string 3 slices of sweet potato together (I didn't do this step)

If you notice, mine were not fully coated by brown sugar
Well, I just could not bear to add sugar that much I sprinkled less than half the amount stated. And actually, I found the sweetness was just right - suitable to my liking
It still gave me a crisp exterior from the brown sugar, but it couldn't last long. It turned soggy pretty fast, and when it's soggy, it's real oily! So the best is to consume right after frying

All in all, this is a yummy snack :)

I am submitting this post to Asian Food Fest – Philippines hosted by The Sweet Spot