The Unconventional Savory Use For Overripe Bananas
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We've all been there. One day you have a bunch of green bananas, and before you know it, they're black. Bananas can be frozen in the peel to use in baking at a later date, but unless you have a commercial-sized freezer, there are only so many overripe bananas that will fit. Everyone always has good intentions of making banana bread, but, well, you know how often that happens.
If you get to those bananas before they're entirely black, you can peel them and pop them into freezer bags for smoothies and other recipes that call for overripe bananas. Still, many of us miss the moment when they're ripe enough to freeze but not overly ripe.
Nobody likes throwing away food, and there's an environmental benefit to keeping that food from heading to the landfill. The USDA reports that food waste in a landfill creates greenhouse gases that can lead to climate change. Being mindful and finding new ways of using food instead of tossing it can make a big difference in the future of our planet.
There's good news. There are so many unique and delicious things you can make with overripe bananas that aren't banana bread.
The history of banana ketchup
One savory food item you can make with overripe bananas is banana ketchup. Yes, you read that right. You can make ketchup out of bananas.
You may not be familiar with banana ketchup, but it's been a staple in kitchens in the Philippines since World War II when tomatoes were scarce, and bananas were plentiful. During the war, a Filipino food technician named Maria Ylagan Orosa used vinegar, sugar, spices, and a grape-based food called saba to create banana ketchup. The color wasn't what people were used to, so she added red food dye to make it look more like conventional ketchup (per Esquire).
According to Matador Network, banana ketchup tastes sweeter than regular ketchup but doesn't taste like bananas at all. It's often used in the Philippines as a topping for garlic fried rice or used to make Filipino spaghetti.
Food & Wine shares a recipe for making banana ketchup that uses onions, spices, and chilies, but most recipes start with three simple ingredients—overripe bananas, vinegar, and sugar. You can use the condiment as a dip, a sauce, or a sandwich spread. Banana ketchup is available online, but why should you pay for something you can easily make yourself from food ordinarily destined for the compost pile?
The versatile banana
Banana vinegar is inexpensive and easy to make. Let overripe bananas ferment in a jar in the sun, and within a few weeks, you'll have banana vinegar ready to replace the vinegar in vinaigrettes (per The Guardian). The peels of overripe bananas can also be used to make a unique-tasting vinegar (per LIVESTRONG.com).
When life gives you too many bananas, make bacon. Banana peel bacon is one more delicious way of rescuing food waste from the landfill. Soy sauce provides a salty taste, oil gives it fattiness, and maple syrup delivers a contrasting sweetness to replicate the taste of bacon. The texture is already built in, thanks to the chewiness of the peel.
If you're looking for more ways to use overripe bananas or their peels, the internet is full of great ideas from Banana Peel Smoothies to using peels to purify water. We'll bet you never knew how versatile those old bananas could be!