Banana; Banana Flower; Banana Stem

The banana plant, Musa acuminata, is native to Southeast Asia. Bananas grow in bunches, called “hands,” at the end of a tall stem. Bananas come in many varieties, from small and sweet to large and much less sweet. In Burmese they are ngepyaw thi. Banana leaves are used for wrapping foods before steaming them. In Burma banana stem (actually the “stem” of the plant is a pseudostem, being composed of bundles of leaves) is an important ingredient in mohinga, the complex noodle soup that is the Burmese national dish (see “Mohinga Variations,”). The Burmese term for banana stem is ngae pyaw oo. Banana flower is eaten as a vegetable in Southeast Asia. It is large, beautiful, cone-shaped, and red-purple. In Burma it is cooked, then chopped and made into salad; in Thailand and Laos the salad is more often made from chopped uncooked banana flower.