Snack
Crispy banana chips (Kluai chap)
Thin slices of green Hak Muk banana fried until crisp, then salted or glazed sweet. Very hard to stop at one.
- Prep
- 25 min
- Cook
- 30 min
- Total
- 55 min
- Serves
- 4
- Difficulty
- Medium
Fruit to use
Fully green, unripe Hak Muk bananas: hard, pale flesh
About this dish
"Chap" means to coat in syrup. Banana chips are a classic Thai snack, made from green Hak Muk or green Namwa bananas.
Ingredients
Serves 4
Green (unripe) Hak Muk bananas
6 · a firm Thai cooking banana; green plantains or green saba bananas also work
Clean water
1 litre (4 cups) · for soaking
Fine salt
1 tbsp · for soaking
Neutral oil for deep-frying
about 1 litre · e.g. rice bran, palm or sunflower oil
Salted
Very fine salt
½–1 tsp
Sweet glaze
Brown sugar or coconut sugar
150 g (¾ cup)
Water
60 ml (4 tbsp)
Fine salt
¼ tsp
Toasted white sesame seeds
1 tbsp · optional
Method
Mix the water and salt in a large bowl.
Oil your hands or wear gloves. Trim both ends of each banana, score the skin lengthwise and peel it off.
Slice the bananas lengthwise or into rounds, 1–2 mm thick, dropping the slices straight into the salt water.
Soak for 10 minutes, then drain and pat completely dry with a clean cloth.
Pour the oil into a deep, heavy wok or pot (no more than half full) and heat over medium heat to about 170 °C.
Fry the slices in small batches, stirring to stop them sticking, for 3–5 minutes until golden and crisp and the bubbling slows down.
Lift out onto a rack to drain. For salted chips, sprinkle with salt while they're still hot.
For sweet chips, simmer the sugar, water and salt in a clean wok over medium heat for 3–5 minutes, until thick with big, slow bubbles.
Turn the heat to low, add the fried chips and sesame seeds, and toss quickly for 2–3 minutes until every chip is coated and the sugar starts to dry.
Spread out on a tray to cool completely, then store in an airtight jar.
Tips
- Use fully green bananas. Once they start to turn yellow, the starch becomes sugar and the chips brown too fast without getting crisp.
- Green banana sap stains hands and clothes, so oil your hands or wear gloves before peeling.
- A mandoline gives even, thin slices. Always use the hand guard.
- Hot-oil safety: dry the slices well, never leave the pot unattended, keep children and pets away, and turn the heat down if the oil starts to smoke. The thick sugar syrup is just as hot, so never taste it straight from the pan.
- If the oil catches fire, turn off the heat and cover the pot with a lid or baking tray. Never use water. Let the oil cool completely before moving or discarding it.
- No thermometer? Drop in one slice: if it bubbles right away and floats up quickly, the oil is ready.