$3.35/lb. | Appx 2 fruits per pound

Cooking bananas come in many varieties, all of them ideal for cooking as opposed to eating fresh. While most cooking bananas can still be eaten raw, they take a lot longer to get ripe enough for their starches to break down into sugars and become easily digestible. For this reason, they stay firmer and more potato-y than what we call "dessert" bananas (those varieties that are meant to be eaten fresh once they lose their green color).

Grown in Hilo using conventional practices

Delivery day: Varies

Cooking bananas are starchy, like potatoes, but have more body and usually more flavor. If you allow the cooking banana to ripen a bit, the flavor becomes more pronounced and they will develop more sweetness, while still being nice and starchy. One of the most well-known cooking banana dishes is tostones, a favorite dish throughout Latin America and the Caribbean. Ripe plantain or other cooking bananas are peeled, sliced, and pan-fried. The fried slices and then smashed flat and fried again before being served with a sprinkle of salt or other seasonings.

Cooking bananas are extremely versatile (think of them like potatoes or other familiar starches) and excellent as hashbrowns, in stews, roasted, etc. Keep in mind that the more yellow color their skin has, the more banana flavor and sweetness they'll have when you cook them. Cooking bananas can be used from when they're fully green to fully ripe, depending on your preference.