fried banana flowers

Here’s a quick, but interesting, snack. Fried banana flowers, called tawt man hua bplii [ทอดมันหัวปลี]. Actually, this food is very similar to the common, traditional Thai fish cakes which is where the tawt man part of the name comes from. Just replace the fish part with a banana blossom. I have had banana blossoms on many occasions and in several different forms, but I have always found them to be way too bitter for my taste. These fried banana flowers were exactly the opposite. Nice and crispy with a taste strangely similar to french fries and no bitterness at all. They are served as a side dish with chili sauce and vegetables. With my unhealthy love of fried foods, I will definitely be eating more of these in the future.

As a side note, the two other barely viewable foods on the plate are a cha-om omelet (kai jiaw cha-om) and some sour fish (bplaa som). All of these foods compliment each other and are generally sold at the same stand along with some fresh vegetables and chili dips.