How useful Banana Is

How useful banana is

Did you know that all parts of banana are very useful? Fruit can be eaten or used to make cakes, Asian desserts either yellow or green. The banana blossoms/flowers can be used to make salad or cooked which widely used in Vietnamese, Laos, Cambodian and Thai cooking. Leaves are used to wrap things or as a natural plate to get aroma for dishes such as Thai’s Hok Mok Pla, Cambodian’s Amok, Malaysian’s Nasi Lemak and others. Inner part of the stalk is also edible and can be used as vegetable in Cambodian cuisine. How about the trunk? As far as I can recall when I was very young, after harvesting the fruit, I would help my grandmother to cut the trunk into long strip and dry them up and used them as strings.

Banana grows and fruits in Melbourne

Why I am talking about banana here, especially in Melbourne’s climatic conditions? Well, many people get surprise how the banana can grow in the garden in Melbourne. Yes, trust me it can grow, flower and fruit in Melbourne. I think it needs a good spot where it is protected from strong wind and winter frost and a bit of patience. It takes a bit of time to fruit because it normally goes into dormant in winter and grows between spring and autumn. One banana tree newly flowers a month ago and two other banana trees, about 3 years old, fruited last summer and the bananas are still green and not ready yet by now because they did not grow at all in winter. Once they are ready, in the next month or so, I will have around 100 beautiful, organic and tasty bananas and it will bring back my childhood memories which I LOVE. 

Banana Flower

                                Banana Blossoms salad

Vietnamese Crispy Pancake- Banh Xeo

                                                Vietnamese Crispy Pancake- Banh Xeo