Crunchy Fried Bananas

Ripe bananas in a coconut batter, rolled in desiccated coconut and cornflour and deep-fried. The source places it in Thailand and Southeast Asia, where it is known in Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore as pisang goreng. The double coating is what the name is promising and what makes this different from a plain banana fritter. The banana is dipped in a wet batter, then rolled in a dry mixture of desiccated coconut and cornflour. The wet layer seals the fruit; the dry layer gives a rough, shaggy surface that fries into something genuinely crunchy rather than smooth. Cornflour is doing specific work in that dry coat, it contains no gluten, so it crisps rather than turning bready, which is why it appears in so many Asian frying batters. Ice-cold water in the batter is the other technique worth noting. Cold liquid slows gluten development and produces a lighter, crisper coating, which is the same principle behind tempura. Fried bananas are eaten across an enormous stretch of the world, and Africa has its own long tradition of frying bananas and plantains, West African banana fritters, kelewele, dodo, accra banana. This particular version is Southeast Asian, and it sits in Worldwide Recipes with its URL unchanged. The source gives no quantities; those below are working proportions.