Buzz
Turning food scraps into tasty dishes is no easy feat, but none of them have proven as tricky as the infamous banana peel. While the banana itself is a beloved fruit, its peel is another story. Raw banana peels are bitter, tough, and leave an odd sensation on your tongue. Certainly not something you'd crave.
At first, I thought trying to make something out of banana peels was a mistake, but if you've read this three-year-old article of mine, you'll know that banana peels are indeed edible, provided you don't have a latex allergy. They're even commonly used in dishes like thorans and curries. What I didn't expect, though, was that I could turn them into something I'd actually enjoy eating.
As I mentioned, the banana peel on its own doesn't have much appeal, so it requires quite a bit of work. My first idea was to fry the peel in bacon grease, because honestly, everything tastes better with bacon grease. Frying helped the texture—crispy with just the right amount of chew—but the bitterness was still there. So, I turned to sugar, salt, and umami to counteract the bitterness.
Inspired by Pok Pok’s fish sauce wings, I coated the fried banana peel bits in a mixture of sugar and fish sauce (equal parts by volume), then put them back in the pan to let the sauce thicken and caramelize. The result was a batch of crispy, chewy bits that tasted like candied bacon, and I was pretty proud of the outcome. But why stop there? If you’re going to put in all the work to make mock bacon, why not make it vegan so anyone, regardless of dietary preference, can enjoy it?
Making banana peel fake-un involves multiple steps: first you need to remove the stringy fibers from the peel, then fry it, coat it in a sweet and salty syrup, and finish it off in the oven. I decided to cut the peels into strips rather than bits, mainly because the bits tend to fall through my wire rack, and also because strips make a better fit for sandwiches.
After the fake-un became crispy and glossy, I crumbled it over a wedge, ate it, and sent a picture to our social media editor—mostly so he could brace himself for an influx of angry carnivores in his mentions. The sweet and salty crispy bits were perfect on my salad, and while banana peels will never fully replace bacon for me, they’ll definitely make their way into more salads, snack mixes, and sandwiches. To make your own tasty fake-un bits, you will need:
2 washed organic banana peels
1/4 cup vegetable or grapeseed oil
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon maple syrup
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon liquid smoke
1/4 teaspoon sweet paprika
2 large pinches of MSG (optional)
Trim the ends of the banana peels, then use a spoon to scrape out the stringy white material from inside. Cut the peels into strips (each peel should yield about four strips), and heat 1/4 cup of oil over medium-high heat. Once the oil shimmers, add the strips and fry until they puff slightly and turn a shade darker than golden brown, flipping them to ensure both sides become crispy.
While the peels fry, whisk together the remaining ingredients in a large bowl. Drain the fried peels on paper towels, then toss them in the soy sauce mixture to coat. Arrange the peels on a wire rack set inside a baking tray, then bake them in a 375℉ oven for five minutes. Brush the remaining soy sauce mixture over the peels, and bake for a couple more minutes until they become shiny and candied, but not wet. Remove from the oven and allow them to sit for a few minutes to cool and harden. Enjoy as they are, slide them into a sandwich, or crumble them over any dish with abandon.
