Dessert
Bananas in coconut milk (Kluai buat chi)
Soft, chewy Namwa bananas in sweet, slightly salty coconut milk with a hint of pandan. A hug in a bowl.
- Prep
- 10 min
- Cook
- 15 min
- Total
- 25 min
- Serves
- 4
- Difficulty
- Easy
Fruit to use
Just-ripe Namwa bananas: yellow skin, flesh still firm (slightly under-ripe if you like them chewy)
About this dish
"Buat chi" means "ordained as a nun": the bananas sit in white coconut milk like a Thai nun in white robes. One of the simplest Thai home desserts.
Ingredients
Serves 4
Namwa bananas
8 · small, sweet Thai bananas (also sold as Pisang Awak); other small, firm bananas work
Coconut milk
500 ml (2 cups) · divided into 300 ml and 200 ml
Water
250 ml (1 cup)
Palm sugar or coconut sugar
100 g (about 6 tbsp) · soft, caramel-tasting sugar from palm or coconut sap; chop it before measuring, or use light brown sugar
Fine salt
½ tsp
Pandan leaves
3 · fragrant tropical leaves, tied in a knot; skip if you can't find them
Method
Peel the bananas, halve them lengthwise, then cut each half into 2 pieces.
Boil the banana pieces in water for 2–3 minutes, then drain.
Put 300 ml of the coconut milk, the water and the pandan into a pot over medium-low heat.
Add the palm sugar and salt and stir until dissolved.
Add the bananas and simmer gently for about 5 minutes, until soft but still holding their shape.
Pour in the remaining 200 ml of coconut milk and turn off the heat as soon as it starts to bubble gently.
Take out the pandan and let the bananas sit for 10 minutes to soak up the coconut milk, then serve.
Tips
- Boiling the bananas first removes their sticky sap, so the coconut milk stays white and doesn't taste astringent.
- Don't let coconut milk boil hard for long or it will split. Gentle heat is all it needs.
- Very ripe bananas fall apart. If that's all you have, simmer them for just 2–3 minutes.
- Lovely warm or at room temperature. Keeps in the fridge for 1–2 days.