Banana Cue
Street-style Filipino banana cue: ripe saba fried in brown sugar caramel and served on bamboo skewers.
Serves 4 · 25m total
The Story
Banana cue is saba on a stick, fried in oil with a handful of brown sugar that melts into a glassy coat. It is not turon (no wrapper) and not maruya (not battered). You buy it after school, still hot, sugar cracking when you bite.
Ripe saba is the whole recipe. Green bananas stay starchy. Overripe ones collapse in the oil. You want yellow peels with a few brown spots, firm enough to skewer.
The sugar goes in the pan with the bananas, not as a separate caramel you pour after. That is how street carts do it, and that is why the coat sticks.
Best paired with
Turon, kamote cue, and a cold soda.
Use it in these KusinaPH recipes
Lola's Tips
- ✦Medium heat: too hot and the sugar burns before the banana cooks through.
- ✦Do not walk away once the sugar melts—it goes from caramel to bitter in seconds.
- ✦Skewer after frying so the sticks do not burn in the oil.
- ✦Work in batches; crowding drops the oil temperature and the coat gets greasy.
Substitutions
- saba bananas → plantains, slightly underripe
- brown sugar → muscovado for a darker crust
Ingredients
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Instructions
- 1
Peel the saba. Leave them whole.
- 2
Heat oil in a wide pan over medium heat. The oil should shimmer, not smoke.
- 3
Add bananas. Fry 2 minutes, turning, until they start to color.
- 4
Sprinkle brown sugar over the bananas. Continue frying and turning 4 to 5 minutes until the sugar melts, coats each banana, and turns deep amber.
- 5
Lift out onto a rack. When cool enough to handle, thread 2 bananas per skewer, or one large banana per stick.
- 6
Serve warm while the caramel is still shiny.
Kitchen Timer · 10 min prep first
15:00
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