To make street-style banana cue, the Filipino snack of fried saba bananas coated in brown sugar caramel, you have to make it all in one pot!
When tanghulu started trending online, some Filipinos pointed out the similarities of the Chinese sugar-coated fruit skewers to our own homegrown sugar-coated fruit skewer.
“Banana cue is just Filipino tanghulu.” Sure—both are Asian street foods of skewered fruit coated in melted sugar. But get technical and that’s where the similarity ends. Banana cue or bananacue, if prepared tanghulu-style by coating saba bananas in sugar syrup, will get you a snack unlike the caramel-covered merienda you get on the streets.
The key to street-style banana cue? Deep-fry your sugar. Everything happens in one big pot of hot oil. You first fry your saba bananas until soft. Pile on some brown sugar right on top, directly into the oil. The heat melts the sugar into a sticky brown caramel, forming a coat around the bananas. Some parts will have bigger patches of caramel than others. You might even find clumps of fried sugar. It’s all part of the fun—just make sure to let the hot caramel cool before taking a bite!
Our recipe for banana cue is inexact. Fry up as many bananas as you want, and measure the brown sugar with your heart.
Cook bananas: Heat enough oil for deep-frying in a wok or deep saucepan to 350°F or 180°C. Add peeled bananas to the hot oil, working in batches as necessary to avoid overcrowding the wok or pan. Cook bananas until tender, about 4–5 minutes.
Coat in caramel: Sprinkle brown sugar over the bananas. Turn bananas over and sprinkle more brown sugar over the second side. In a few minutes, the sugar will dissolve and turn into caramel. Continue cooking, turning and moving the bananas around to evenly coat them in caramel. You can also use a spoon to baste the bananas in the melted brown sugar.
Skewer bananas: Using tongs, carefully take the hot, caramel-coated bananas out of the oil and skewer them with bamboo sticks. Each bamboo stick should fit at least 2 bananas.
Cool and serve: Transfer sticks to a banana leaf or metal rack to cool completely. If using a metal rack, careful that the bananas don’t stick—rotate them a few times while cooling. Serve immediately once sugar coating has cooled and hardened.
