Snack
Sun-dried bananas (Kluai tak)
Let the sun do the cooking. Very ripe Namwa bananas slowly dry into chewy, honey-sweet treats with no sugar added.
- Prep
- 20 min
- Drying
- about 5 days
- Total
- about 5 days
- Serves
- 6
- Difficulty
- Easy
Fruit to use
Very ripe Namwa bananas: yellow skins with lots of dark spots, soft, sweet flesh
About this dish
Kluai tak is a famous Thai snack and souvenir, especially from Bang Krathum in Phitsanulok province, made from nothing but very ripe Namwa bananas and sunshine.
Ingredients
Serves 6
Very ripe Namwa bananas
1 hand (about 12 bananas)
Clean water
1 litre (4 cups) · for soaking
Fine salt
1 tbsp · for soaking
Equipment
A bamboo tray, wire rack or mesh food-drying net
Cheesecloth or a mesh food cover
keeps dust and insects off
2 flat wooden boards plus banana leaves or baking paper
for pressing
Method
Stir the salt into the water in a large bowl until dissolved.
Peel the bananas and pull off all the stringy fibres.
Soak the bananas in the salt water for 10 minutes.
Rinse in clean water and drain on a rack.
Lay the bananas on the tray or rack, not touching, and cover with cheesecloth.
Dry them in strong sun from morning until mid-afternoon, turning them at midday. In the evening, put them in a covered box in the fridge overnight, then bring them back out into the sun the next morning.
Repeat for 2–3 days, until the bananas have shrunk, feel taut on the outside and have turned golden brown.
Place each banana between banana leaves or baking paper and press flat with a board to about 0.5–1 cm thick.
Dry for another 2–3 days, until the surface is dry and not sticky but the inside is still soft.
No sun? Use an oven or dehydrator at 60 °C with the fan on, 8 hours a day for 2–3 days until the bananas shrink, then press them flat and dry for 8 hours a day for another 1–2 days. Keep them in a covered box in the fridge between sessions.
Let them cool completely, then store in an airtight jar or box.
Tips
- Use truly over-ripe bananas with plenty of dark spots. Under-ripe ones dry hard and taste astringent.
- The salt-water soak helps the bananas keep a lovely golden colour instead of turning dark.
- Keep them away from rain and dew: damp bananas go mouldy quickly. On cloudy days, finish them in the oven.
- Never close the container while the bananas are still warm, or condensation can cause mould.
- Keeps for about 1 month at room temperature, or 2–3 months in the fridge.