Kluay Buat Chi (Bananas in Sweet Coconut Milk)

Ingredients

• 4 banana, ripe but still firm
• 4 dl coconut milk
• 1½ dl water
• 4 tbsp palm sugar
• 1 tbsp white sugar
• ½ tsp salt
• 1 tbsp sesame seeds, toasted
• 2 tbsp desiccated coconut, lightly toasted

Method

1. 1.

   Warm the coconut milk — Pour the coconut milk and water into a medium saucepan and warm over medium-low heat until it steams and just trembles at the edge. Do not let it boil hard, or the coconut milk splits into oil and grain.

2. 2.

   Sweeten and salt the syrup — Stir in the palm sugar, white sugar and salt until completely dissolved, then let it barely simmer for 3 minutes. Taste it: the syrup should be sweet with a clear salty edge, not sugary alone.

3. 3.

   Slice the bananas — Only now peel the bananas and cut them into thick diagonal slices about 3 cm long. Cut them any earlier and the exposed flesh browns while it waits.

4. 4.

   Poach the banana — Slide the banana into the pan and poach very gently for 5 minutes, turning the pieces once. They are ready when the edges look translucent and the tip of a knife slides in with no resistance but the slices still hold their shape.

5. 5.

   Rest and top with sesame — Take the pan off the heat and let it stand for 5 minutes so the banana drinks up the syrup. Ladle warm into small bowls with plenty of the coconut liquid and scatter with toasted sesame seeds and coconut.