Seriously, are they picked early or something? Did the Japanese bring them here during the occupation?
What gives?
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[quote=“jdsmith”]Seriously, are they picked early or something? Did the Japanese bring them here during the occupation?
What gives?[/quote]
Fry them with butter and lemon juice. They’re really nice that way.
[quote=“jdsmith”]Seriously, are they picked early or something? Did the Japanese bring them here during the occupation?
What gives?[/quote]
I resent the implication that Japanese have small bananas.
[quote=“smell the glove”][quote=“jdsmith”]Seriously, are they picked early or something? Did the Japanese bring them here during the occupation?
What gives?[/quote]
I resent the implication that Japanese have small bananas.[/quote]
Resent or resemble? 
Okay children, say it with me now, “plantain.” It’s the big banana’s tropical little cousin. 
HG
[quote=“Maoman”][quote=“jdsmith”]Seriously, are they picked early or something? Did the Japanese bring them here during the occupation?
What gives?[/quote]
Fry them with butter and lemon juice. They’re really nice that way.[/quote]
Yep,it is.Lemon juice is a point. 
[quote=“Huang Guang Chen”]Okay children, say it with me now, “plantain.” It’s the big banana’s tropical little cousin.
HG[/quote]
Aren’t plantains quite a bit bigger than ordinary bananas?
And the little bananas are just another variety or species, found throughout Southeast Asia (and Central America).
[quote=“Chris”][quote=“Huang Guang Chen”]Okay children, say it with me now, “plantain.” It’s the big banana’s tropical little cousin.
HG[/quote]
Aren’t plantains quite a bit bigger than ordinary bananas?[/quote]
Some varieties are. The stubby ones jds is talking about are called bocadillo plantains.
[quote=“Taffy”]
Some varieties are. The stubby ones jds is talking about are called bocadillo plantains.[/quote]
Not in Taiwan … so, give us the Chinees name … if I go out on the street and ask for bocadillo, I might end up with … who knows what 
I think the OP is referring to finger bananas. Simply a different variety of the local bananas. Plantains are generally quite large, hard and require a knife to cut. They are not sweet at all. West Indians cook them in various dishes as a savoury.
Could be, but I’ve bought bocadillo plantains here before and made mash with them - they were small and definitely not bananas!
These little guys are bananas for sure. The kids have them with their lunch.
Oh, we call those little sweet ones sugar banans in Oz.
HG
I did some research on bananas a while back. In most Western countries, little stubby bananas are called “lady fingers,” “finger bananas,” “baby bananas,” or “sugar bananas” - all colloquial names for Musa acuminata.
In Chinese, however, they’re called “bajiao” (芭蕉). This is often mistranslated as “plaintain” in English, when it probably should be Musa (genus of the family Musaceae, which includes bananas and plantains). The Chinese genus bajiao includes several dozen species, for example Musa acuminata (lady fingers, etc., aka 小果野蕉) and Musa nana (bananas, aka 香蕉).
But Chinese is a bit confusing because there also happens to be a species called bajiao, referring to species Musa basjoo, which, you will be proud to know, jd, is known in English as the “Japanese banana” or “Japanese fiber banana” since it hails from the Ryukyu Islands. The local variety, however, was known from 1948 on as Musa basjoo var. formosana (台灣芭蕉) but just a few months ago was officially recognized as its own species: Musa formosana. This was big news in the banana world, and there’s a short thread on the subject over at the bananas.org forums. If I’d known, I would’ve had a party.
Basically, you can call them Forumosan bananas.
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People say the the for(u)mosan bananas are the best …
While I appreciate the effort, you really MUST get out more!
Well, you gotta admit, “Forumosan bananas” DOES sound better than “Japanese baby fingers.”
Bananas are herbs you know…
Another (probably made up) fact from my brain™.
[quote=“Big Fluffy Matthew”]Bananas are herbs you know…
Another (probably made up) fact from my brain™.[/quote]
No it’s a legume …
Next time you have a BBQ, cut them in half, baste a little bit of molasses and grill them. Put a little lime on them when you eat them. Yum.