Coconut-Fried Bananas with Lychees & Papaya
This is a wonderful ending to any meal. The bananas are delicately coated with shredded coconut and fried until golden brown and crispy. The bananas are then served over a sublime papaya sauce with lychees, creating a dessert that is stunning to both the eye and the palette.
PRODUCT TIP:
For this recipe, you need shredded unsweetened coconut. If you were to use sweetened shredded coconut, the coating tends to burn easily due to the additional sugar content, and the finished dessert becomes too sweet. There are many brands out there, but I find the Bob’s Red Mill brand to be very consistent.
Lychees are a Chinese fruit that is widely available, canned, from Asian markets. The fresh fruit is occasionally available from specialty fruit markets and is grown in subtropical regions such as Florida, California and Hawaii. The lychee (also known as litchi nut) is a small round fruit with a very thin and rough dark skin. The flesh, which surrounds a large single seed, is creamy white and smooth and has a delicate flavor unlike that of any other fruit.
Coconut-Fried Bananas with Lychees & Papaya
Course: DessertCuisine: ThaiDifficulty: Easy6
servings10
minutes10
minutesIngredients
1 cup cubed fresh ripe papaya
2 Tablespoons granulated sugar
fresh orange juice as needed
6 firm ripe bananas
3 large eggs, lightly beaten
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups shredded unsweetened coconut
1/4 cup unsalted butter
2 cans lychees
Directions
- To make the papaya sauce, remove the seeds and skin from the papaya and place in a blender with the sugar and enough orange juice to make a puree.
- Peel the bananas and cut them in half lengthwise and then once crosswise. Mix the eggs with the honey and flour.
- Spread the shredded coconut out on a plate. Dip the bananas into the egg mixture, coating them well, and roll them in the coconut.
- Heat a large sauté pan over medium heat and melt the butter. Lay the bananas in the melted butter and cook slowly for 5 minutes. Turn over and cook for another 4 minutes. Add the lychees to the pan with the bananas and heat for 1 minute, tossing.
- Distribute the bananas and lychees between the plates, stacking the bananas, and surround with a pool of the papaya sauce.
