Go bananas...or not?
September 5, 2023 10:32 AM Subscribe
I got some red bananas. They taste disgusting. What's the deal?
I heard that red bananas are supposed to be sweeter and more delicious than the regular yellow variety, so I was excited when I saw some at the grocery store. As soon as I got home, I tried one. It was extremely difficult to peel- I had to use a knife. It was insanely bitter and disgusting. I figured the bunch wasn't ripe. That was 3 days ago. Since then, they've turned a deeper purplish red, so I thought I'd try again this morning. Same result - difficult to peel and disgustingly bitter.
Did I just pick up a bad bunch, or do red bananas take a longer time to ripen? Or are they like plantains that need to be coooked?
How do I know they're ripe? (some internet sources say they get a deeper, purple-ish red, others say they get more green.)
I heard that red bananas are supposed to be sweeter and more delicious than the regular yellow variety, so I was excited when I saw some at the grocery store. As soon as I got home, I tried one. It was extremely difficult to peel- I had to use a knife. It was insanely bitter and disgusting. I figured the bunch wasn't ripe. That was 3 days ago. Since then, they've turned a deeper purplish red, so I thought I'd try again this morning. Same result - difficult to peel and disgustingly bitter.
Did I just pick up a bad bunch, or do red bananas take a longer time to ripen? Or are they like plantains that need to be coooked?
How do I know they're ripe? (some internet sources say they get a deeper, purple-ish red, others say they get more green.)
The couple of times I've had red bananas, yes, it was a longer time to ripen. To me, they tasted best when the peel had softened up and had a bit of an orange cast in places, which was close to a week; at that point, I put them in the fridge. You can speed the process with paper bag storage or oven baking, same as with Cavendish bananas.
posted by Iris Gambol at 11:34 AM on September 5, 2023
posted by Iris Gambol at 11:34 AM on September 5, 2023
Yeah, those are just underripe. Give them a few more days, if possible in a paper bag in a warm spot, and check in on them again. They'll be easy to peel (basically how you're probably expecting a banana to peel) when they're ready.
Broadly, varieties other than Cavendish need to be much riper than you would expect (as someone used to eating Cavendishes) in order to reach peak texture, sweetnees and flavor. Conversely, Cavendishes tend to be realtively palatable at stages of ripeness where other bananas are completely disgusting in the ways you describe (hard, bitter, astringent), and also lose their good qualities at a stage where other banana varities are just getting tasty.
Cavendishes are edible and even tasty while the peel is still greenish (stage 5), and their texture begins to suffer by the time they reach stage 6, at least in my opinion. Many other banana varieties are only starting to get good when their peels are significantly spotted with brown, and may not even be ripe enough to eat before this.
posted by pullayup at 3:25 PM on September 5, 2023 [3 favorites]
Broadly, varieties other than Cavendish need to be much riper than you would expect (as someone used to eating Cavendishes) in order to reach peak texture, sweetnees and flavor. Conversely, Cavendishes tend to be realtively palatable at stages of ripeness where other bananas are completely disgusting in the ways you describe (hard, bitter, astringent), and also lose their good qualities at a stage where other banana varities are just getting tasty.
Cavendishes are edible and even tasty while the peel is still greenish (stage 5), and their texture begins to suffer by the time they reach stage 6, at least in my opinion. Many other banana varieties are only starting to get good when their peels are significantly spotted with brown, and may not even be ripe enough to eat before this.
posted by pullayup at 3:25 PM on September 5, 2023 [3 favorites]
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posted by DirtyOldTown at 10:42 AM on September 5, 2023 [2 favorites]