One of the many vegetables I enjoy having is "puso ng saging" or banana heart/blossom. A perfect background veggie for Kare-kare and sinigang na bangus, it is the star of a popular dish which calls for it to be cooked in coconut cream (ginataang puso). I remember a slightly different version, though. Mom would cook it without the cream and it had a hint of tartness in it (she is Kapampanga.. no wonder). I searched all over the internet and I got mostly the creamed one. So I uttered a silent "good luck to me" as I tried to recreate this childhood food from memory. Once done with the cooking, I spooned some of the little sauce on a bowl of steaming Japanese rice and scooped a generous portion of the veggie on top. COMFORT FOOD!!! Sis in Japan will love this! I reckon this dish to be just as good with bite-size cuts of salty fried dried fish if you don't fancy eating pork.
By the way, be very quick in immersing this vegetable in water with salt or lemon to avoid it from oxidizing. No need to blanch it in hot water, too (short cut).
Ingredients:
- 1 whole banana blossom (remove the outer layers until you reach an all cream-colored "leaves)
- 1/2 kilo pork butt/shoulder (cut into slightly bigger than bite size)
- 2 medium tomatoes (sliced thinly)
- 4 cloves garlic (minced)
- 1 medium onion (chopped)
- vinegar
- fish sauce
- water
- green long chilies (optional)
- red bird's eye chilies (optional)
Procedure:
- Slice the banana blossom a little thinly around 1/4 of an inch. Immerse it in water mixed with a little salt and set aside.
- In a dry pan, add a little oil and saute the onions, garlic, and tomato slices. Stir and mash.
- Add the pork slices and stir-fry until browned.
- Quickly run the immersed sliced banana blossoms under running water to remove the salty taste. Press out all excess water and add it to the pan.
- Add 1/2 cup of water and simmer until the blossoms are soft and almost dry.
- Swirl enough vinegar to add some hint of tartness and give it a quick toss once. Simmer uncovered for 2 minutes.
- Season with fish sauce.
- Add the chilies if using them.
- Serve right away.