Bulgogi-Style Banana Peel

Yes, you can eat banana peel. No, it doesn’t taste like banana. Yes, it’s good even to meat-eaters. The whole purpose of my blog and YouTube channel is to promote more vegetables and plant-based eating in general, especially for meat eaters. No matter your dietary dogma, we can all use more plants in our lives. With that, I am amused with new experiments, like cooking shredded banana peel!

I used two sources for this video: TheStingyVegan.com and an IG video by chef George Lee. The Stingy Vegan (I love this name, btw) is a great resource for the background on banana peels used in Brazilian and Venezuelan cooking, and how to choose the best bananas for cooking. Chef George’s video is the bulgogi sauce used in the video.

If I saw this in a restaurant, I would 100% order it, not for shock value, but because it’s GOOD. The peel carries the flavor of the sauce/spice and is super nutritious. The texture is like al dente pasta (if you get it right).

Banana Peel Bulgogi

How to cook banana peel

Ingredients
2 bananas (organic is best)
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 tsp powdered garlic
1/4 tsp powdered onion
1 clove garlic, minced
.5 tsp minced ginger
1 Tbsp ketchup
1 Tbsp mirin (or rice vinegar with a pinch of sugar)
1 Tbsp sriracha
.5 Tbsp tamari (or soy sauce)
.5 Tbsp gochujang
1 Tbsp maple syrup
.5 Tbsp sesame oil
1 Tbsp vegetable oil
a few tbsp of water for cooking
1-2 chopped scallions
optional sesame seeds

Recipe summary: peel banana & scoop out meat from the inside of the peel. Shred with a fork. Marinade strips in soy sauce/powdered garlic/powdered onion for 10-15 minutes. Heat wok or skillet over medium heat. Add in peel plus a tablespoon or two of water to help steam the peel. Cook, stirring regularly, for 5 to 10 minutes, depending on the thickness/ripeness of your peel. Turn off heat, and stir in sauce, cooking in the residual heat for 1 minute. Serve with chopped scallion and sesame seeds.

You want slightly underripe peels, which will take close to 10 minutes to cook. Keep adding a splash of water as it cooks out, until the peels reach desired texture (al dente pasta - not so soft that is mushes under pressure, not so firm that your teeth can't easily bite through it).