Sweet Bananas (Sous Vide)
Bananas are among the fruits available year-round at our market. Traditionally we already eat them as a morning and afternoon snack. Here is a recipe that brings bananas back as a dessert — and not just any dessert, but a very easy, sweet and aromatic one made sous vide. I have changed some details from the original recipe, but I assure you this benefits the final result.
Ingredients
| 4 | large bananas | |
| 4 tbsp | 60 ml | unrefined brown sugar |
| 2 | cinnamon sticks | |
| 6 | cloves | |
| 3 | cardamom seed pods | |
| — | small knob of butter | |
| — | cream or vanilla ice cream, for assembling and serving |
Instructions
COOKING TEMPERATURE - 80°C / 176°F. COOKING TIME - 00:30 h.
- Set your sous vide to 80°C / 176°F.
- Put the bananas, brown sugar, cinnamon, cardamom pod and cloves in a bag and vacuum-seal, being careful not to crush the banana pieces.
- Submerge the bag in the sous vide water bath and cook for 00:30 h (30 minutes) at 80°C / 176°F, until the bananas soften and the sugar melts.
- Remove the bag from the sous vide and let it cool slightly.
- Open it and remove the cinnamon, cardamom and cloves.
- Serve while warm, garnished with cream or vanilla ice cream.
TIP: Choose bananas that are slightly green and have no spots on the skin. These will stay whole even after the heat treatment, unlike ripe bananas which are likely to turn into baby puree. Cut the banana into thicker pieces, for example one banana into four pieces rather than six. I recommend not overfilling the bags — put two bananas per bag and distribute the spices among the bags. I have allowed 1 tablespoon of unrefined brown sugar per banana. If your vacuum machine has settings, choose a lighter vacuum setting; if not, press the button to stop the vacuuming and immediately press the other one just to seal. Or use ZIP bags with the Archimedes water-displacement method. Use the juice released during cooking as a topping. With a kitchen torch you can lightly char the edges of the bananas to give them a more refined look, and finally... grate a little chocolate for pleasure.
WARNING! Water heated to 80°C is very hot — use tongs to remove the bag from the sous vide water bath!
From material by sousvidesupreme.com.