Who Knew? Banana Pulled ‘Pork’

This is one of Simon’s signature dishes and from start to finish, it is literally ready to nom inside 20 minutes! The strange thing is you’re about to find a mouth-watering use for the thing you normally throw away: banana skin! Apparently, the Venezuelans have been making things with plantain banana peel for years. Once you know it, you might never throw them away, ever again.

Gluten free
Wheat free
Quick meal
Freezable
Cheap
Kids recipe

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Preparation time

10 min

Cook time

10 min

Total time

20

Cuisine

United States and Canada

Meal

  • mains
  • lunches
  • vegetable-side-dishes

Servings

2

Ingredients

  • 4 fully ripe organic bananas
  • 2 tbsp soy sauce
  • 1 tbsp liquid smoke
  • 1 tbsp maple syrup
  • 1 tsp bouillon (or ½ tsp salt and ½ tsp pepper)
  • 1 tsp garlic powder
  • 1 tsp smoked paprika
  • Splash of olive oil for frying
  • Splash of water (possibly)

Instructions

  1. Take your bananas, wash and dry the skins, then peel and either eat the bananas, or slice the bananas up and pop them in the freezer to make ice cream another time. Make sure you hold right onto those banana skins!
  2. Cut the hard top and bottom bits off the banana skins, then trim them into more workable strips.
  3. Lay a strip of the skin inside up on a plate and remove most of the pith by scraping it off with a teaspoon – discard the pith. If they start to oxidise, no worries! This will add to the final colour of the ‘pork’. It might even make them look a little more a-peel-ing… (couldn’t resist)…
  4. Run the prongs of a fork quite firmly down the length of the strips of skin to shred it, then cut those shreds into approximately 5 cm lengths – random sizes are good!
  5. Put all the skin strands in a bowl and add the marinade of soy sauce, bouillon, smoked paprika, garlic powder, maple syrup and liquid smoke. Leave for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
  6. Fry in a smidgen of olive oil for 5 to 10 minutes on a gentle to medium heat, adding a splash of water if it starts to stick. The exact cooking time depends upon how ripe your banana skins were – if brown and soft, much less time will be needed.
  7. Lay a big spoonful of this sticky lush mix in the crease of a long crunchy contrasting lettuce leaf. Serve with whatever other salad you fancy, or, if you made our Tricolour Posh Plait bread earlier, this is a wickedly delicious dish to serve with it!
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