Today, August 27, 2013, is National Banana Lovers Day. A banana is an edible fruit produced by several kinds of large herbaceous flowering plants of the genus Musa. (In some countries, bananas used for cooking may be called plantains.) The fruit is variable in size, color and firmness, but is usually elongated and curved, with soft flesh rich in starch covered with a rind which may be yellow, purple or red when ripe. Have you ever seen a purple or red banana? I haven’t What is your favorite way to eat a banana? I like to make a smoothie
I lived in the Philippines for several years...so many different kinds of delicious bananas in the Philippines. The very small yellow ones are the sweetest. The red/purple are very good and there is a green one that stays green even when it's ripe. I am a banana lover.
Pegmih, get thee to Lee Lees market! Now that's THE place around here for all sorts of more exotic fruits and veggies. Take your Asian cookbook with you and you can find anything you might need. I so enjoy wandering the aisles and exploring. Treats from all around the world arranged according to regions. Teas galore. And many at the best prices anywhere. Panko breadcrumbs and chutneys, jams and almond milk, coconut water, etc. It's like taking a vacation overseas.
I love coconut water. I remember drinking it straight from the coconut when I lived in the Philippines (where I lived was very remote and basically in a coconut forest). Funny thing is, the people in the town did not drink it that much. They were more interested in the buko which is the soft flesh inside before it becomes dry. The shredded coconut here we use, the fed to the pigs or used it to make coconut milk (very different from coconut water)
To make coconut milk is an interesting process--and difficult on the hands. You shred the coconut. Then a few people stand over a big bowl with handfuls of shredded stuff and a second person pours water over your hands as you squeeze the shredded stuff together. This makes the white liquid called milk. I'm sure there are great machines that do this, but where I lived we did not have electricity or running water so that's how we made it.
Is China 7 a restaurant or a market or both? Lee Lees is two restaurants and big supermarket. I know of nothing similar near us, so if someone else does, please enlighten.
