bananimal

Just harvested the bunch from Hua Moa pstem # 1. About same weight and count as last year. Time for fried green plantains folks!

On the tree ready to cut down.


Top 2 hands ready to cook up and eat!


Dan

Dalmatiansoap

OK, make that oil hot. Im comming with the first flight tonight
Congrats

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bananimal

Thank you Ante --- if I lived in Venice you could have been there for dinner tonight!

BTW - have you had any luck finding a source this year for Chini Champa?

Dan

pitangadiego

Add some brown sugar and cayenne pepper, for a sort of sweet/sour, and they will be to die for.

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momoese

Looks great!

Rmplmnz

Yum....

Tostones...

Banana ID

Recipe: Ae Ae Banana Chips / Ae Ae Plantain Mariquetas Bananenchips

bananimal

For breakfast fried up 2 ripe yellow/black ones for maduros. Very different from previous years crops. Distinct lemony flavor. Went very well with eggs, Jimmy Dean sausage and English muffins - Thomases of course.

Pstem #2 should be ready to harvest top hands green in 2 to 3 weeks.

Dan

Rmplmnz

Saaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhh....wheeeeeeeet..................Hua's are by far one of my favorites...first banana plant I ever bought (always had unknown/sometimes known freebies previously) from Bill Lessard (Going Bananas) in 1993.....

I hear complaints that they are bland...but these are store bought and picked way way too green.

Keep us posted!!!

harveyc

Congrats, Dan. How cold have you got down to since you've been growing Hua Moa? I tried growing it but it died the first winter but it was just a somewhat small TC plant. I think we just got down to 28F that winter.

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bananimal

Rmpl ----- I got my HM and 4 other types from Don Chafin at Going Bananas in 2006. Those 5 plants were the start of the obsession. Turned me into a banana animal - a bananimal! Woof!
The flavor, and especially the texture, is different from supermarket plantains for sure. My wife has decided this year that she doesn't like them. They were ok before!? Gonna try 2 different recipes on the next batch from pstem #2. A grated plantain balls in beef stew - like dumplings, and one of the mofongo recipes. We'll see.

Amazing thing last year - ran into HM's in the vegg section in the local Winn Dixie. They were green but way too far along to produce decent tostones. Bought a few - tried em - waste of money.

Harvey ----- We had bad cold winter snaps for the last 2 years. Not typical for S Fla. This year it was 9 straight days of night temps floating between 30 to 32F. But I wrapped them up before the freeze hit and they all made it - including the 2 tender young Ae Ae. See my gallery for wrap up pics. Lost all fruit for 2009, except the tough Goldfinger, and wasn't gonna let that happen again. This year every mat with mature pstems has produced a flower except for the Dwarf Namwah. Any day now - I hope.

Rmplmnz

Thanks to Nicolas!

Check out what a South Florida Chef thinks of these bananas:

Hua Moas make the USA ark of food



Rare Hua Moa Banana-Plantain in the House
Posted on August 27, 2010 by the genuine kitchen| 3 Comments

A ripe Hua Moa (naked and mashed above) is custard-like. Michael and Hedy say it tastes like banana cream pie.
Perched on the food bar today is a stalk of Hua Moa, a rare banana-plantain cross brought to South Florida from the Pacific Islands in 1960 by William F. Whitman Jr., a self-taught horticulturist who became renowned for collecting rare tropical fruits from around the world and popularizing them in the United States. The sample is courtesy of Slow Food Miami’s Donna Reno and Noel Ramos, who hooked us up with Larry Siegel, a Brooklyn-born fruit tree grower in Davie, FL.
“I lived in Brazil for a while and liked exotic fruits,” he explains. “I started with lychee, cherimoyas, longans, avocados… They took a big hit during hurricanes Irene and Wilma. Coconut, papaya, and bananas always hang on!”
Siegel’s been at it since 1996, and his 35 acres are divided into rows that intermix the different tree varieties, alternating coconut, then banana, then coconut, etc. It’s a technique that benefits both, promoting good growth and taste.
Hua Moa was originally from southeast Asia but was carried to the South Pacific in canoes and rafts to the Marquesas Islands and then on to Hawaii. It’s now cultivated in South Dade by a handful of small growers like Siegel. It is the only place in the continental United States where they are found. Slow Food Miami is co-nominating the Hua Moa with Slow Food Hawaii for Slow Food USA’s Ark of Taste, a catalog of over 200 delicious foods in danger of extinction. Read more about the Hua Moa below, and the Ark of Taste here.
* This unusual plantain is a culinary favorite in Cuban, Caribbean and Central and South American communities
* Its name comes from the Polynesian word for “Chicken Egg” as the fruit is egg-shaped; it’s also called Hawaiiano
* The fruit can be eaten fresh or cooked, when the skin is either green (under ripe) or dark brown (ripe)
* Hua Moa has poor cold tolerance, and requires intensive care; it’s recommended only for planting with disease-free material in warm, protected sites free of Panama disease
* Hua Moa grows 10 to 12 ft. and is produced commercially on the east coast of Florida; the elongated melon-shaped fruits are 6 to 11 inches long and 3 inches or more in diameter
* The fruit is sour in taste, sometimes sweet, typically eaten baked with cinnamon and sugar, smashed and fried green (tostones,) or in meat soup (Colombian)
Information from Slow Food Hawaii’s Ken Love on Hawaiian bananas:
* Hawaiian bananas are all endangered and all more susceptible to disease than other bananas
* Most are critically endangered in Hawaii with many varieties having fewer than 600 stands left in the US
* A dozen or more types of bananas have been lost to disease and various critters. Its essential that we protect what’s left regardless of where it is grown now
Rare Hua Moa Banana-Plantain in the House | the genuine kitchen




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Oct. 26: Ark of Taste Dinner


Recipe: Hua Moa Tostones
Posted on October 1, 2010 by the genuine kitchen| Leave a comment
In Miami, we’re spoiled by tostones. They’re everywhere! So when we received our first samples of the rare Hua Moa plantain, and they were green, we immediately thought of frying them up.
These revelatory tostones, which you can now make at home with Michael’s original recipe below, are just the jumping-off point. Michael, Hedy, and Bradley have all been planning our menu for Slow Food Miami’s October 26 feast, er, event to celebrate Hua Moa’s nomination into the Ark of Taste. As the not-so-secret ingredient, it will appear in no less than 11 items! There is a heritage pig from Palmetto Creek Farms involved, and of course, Hedy has brought the funk in Hua Moa desserts. More details to come on Slow Food Miami’s website. For the record, we warned you tickets would move quickly!
Hua Moa Tostones
Yields 12 to 16 tostones
Step by step Flickr set here
I’ve had some good tostones, but never anything like this. What happens when the rare Hua Moa plantain hits hot oil is a thing of greatness. Crispy on the outside and creamy sweet on the inside. It elevates pedestrian tostones – which can be very good – to a whole new level. After testing a few different methods in the kitchen, here’s what we found to make the best. There are few ingredients, but not without specific steps to follow in order for these to come out just right.
Ingredient note: The skin of the unripe fruit is easy to remove with a quick blanch. Make one shallow slit lengthwise, just through the skin. Blanch the slit plantains in boiling water for about 1 minute or until the skin turns brown. Remove them and place in an ice bath. The skin will now be easy to peel and remove.
Hua Moa plantains are originally from southeast Asia and were carried to the South Pacific in canoes and rafts to the Marquesas Islands and then on to Hawaii. The fruit, an elongated, fat version of the common variety, grows about 6 to 11 inches in length and 3 inches or more in diameter, in bunches on 10 to 12 foot plants. It’s now cultivated by Larry Siegel in Davie, one of a handful of small growers in South Dade – the only place in the continental United States where they are found. Larry can ship his Hua Moas directly to any customers in the U.S. via his website or by phone (954.297.6677.) Also some of the Cuban fruit stands in Miami occasionally carry Hua Moas which are known to them as Platanos Hawayano. Try Palacio de los Jugos, but call first (305.264.4557.)
4 unripe (green) Hua Moa plantains, peeled and sliced into 1 ½ inch rounds
Vegetable oil for frying
Kosher salt for seasoning
Heat 4 inches of oil to 350 ºF in a countertop electric fryer or deep pot. If you don’t have a deep-fry thermometer, a good way to test if the oil is hot enough is to stick the end of a wooden spoon or chopstick in it. If bubbles circle around the end, then you’re good to go.
Fry plantain rounds all together for about 1½ minutes or just before they start to turn golden. Remove from the fryer with a slotted spoon and transfer to an aluminum bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and let rounds sit for 5 minutes. Leave the oil at temperature on the stovetop.
Place one round at a time, cut side up, on the center of a lightly-oiled wooden cutting board. Using both hands on each side, take another small oiled board or flat surface and press down evenly to flatten the disc to ½ inch thick. Carefully lift the board. The plantain disc will now be about 3 to 4 inches in diameter. To remove, carefully slide a chef knife under the disc to transfer to a plate. Repeat, layering with squares of parchment paper.
Fry the discs, this time in batches of 3 or 4, without crowding, for about 2 to 3 minutes more or until golden brown. With tongs transfer plantains as fried to paper towels to drain. Season generously with salt and serve immediately, straight up.
Recipe: Hua Moa Tostones | the genuine kitchen