When there are good saba bananas around, and a lot of them, we inevitably make some minatamis na saba. A simple, soul satisfying dish, this is almost as much a Marketman favorite as banana turon. We simply stew the whole or chopped bananas in coconut 
milk and brown sugar until cooked. You can enjoy this as is as it cools a bit (or risk burning your lips and tongue), or you can store it in the fridge until you set out a halo-halo buffet or other sweet ending to a meal. The texture, sweetness, flavor of the saba banana conjures only good things in my mind. I could identify this blindfolded. In this case, when a halo-halo buffet was put out, I decided to just have bananas with ice and milk and it was absolutely fantastic. Some western guests who this a bit bizarre, tried the stewed bananas when they had cooled down together with good thick cream and they ooh-ed and aah-ed in obvious delight. I enjoy saba bananas boiled, grilled, in banana que, turon, maruya, fried, etc. Such a versatile, economical and delicious fruit!
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Mouth-watering post! =)
You’re definitely right MM, “conjures only good things in my mind” too; makes me miss my granny… she used to make us saba con hielo using the stewed sweetened bananas topped with generous amount of leche flan then poured with either coconut milk or carabao’s milk.
Hi MM! I love banana saba anywhich way it’s served! On a hot summer day, minatamis na saba is amazing with lotsa ice and milk. Yummy! My mouth is watering with the photo you have in this post. I will go to the store tomorrow and buy me a bunch of plantains so I can make this well-loved food from home. BTW, are you back in Pinas?
Like champorado, it is a great merienda for me. I love it especially with bilo-bilo (round balls made out of galapong) and langka. Thanks, MM!
Would you have a good recipe for Maruya? Back when I was in grade school, we used to have a housekeeper who made great maruya. Sadly, she left before I had a chance to learn how to make them. I’m also looking for a recipe for Kaskarol or Karyoka.
Wrote too soon. I discovered you had a link to your Maruya recipe. I Will try it. Although the ones our housekeeper used to make looked more like a banana pancake but made with glutinous rice.. or that’s how I remembered them.
We use fresh carabao whenever it’s available to cook sweetened saba. My Nanay has this style of letting the liquid dry until you get the near caramel consistency
i love this, but i make sure to add some shredded pandan leaves to the syrup while cooking..i just fish them out later. carina’s version sounds goood…
Hello MarketMan. I love this article. Who will not fall in love with minatamis na saba? All of us Filipinos are raised eating rice, sinigang, adobo, tuyo and the least expensive dessert “Minatamis na Saging!!” This is our comfort food like arroz caldo, goto, sago gulaman, banana cue and more. No foreign food can satisfy me but our own comfort food. Remember the days when we were kids cooking & naghahalo ng halayang ube at nagkukuhit at tinitikman kung luto na. Your minatamis na saging article reminded me of days when we sell saging na saba sa palengke and we don’t throw away the leftover. Minamatamis namin iyon. Thank you for this wonderful article. I only few days left here in Los Angeles and be home in Sta. Rosa, Laguna on the 10th of June. Believe me the first thing I plan to do is go to the palengke and buy banana cue. I already told my Mom to cook minatamis na saging na saba. Sorry I’m too excited!!
Now you’re talking, MM: this is the ultimate comfort food! Will make some for merienda, hehe… Thanks for the magazine, BTW; I was hoping for a longer article…
Don’t know if you get the Travel Channel and the show Bizarre Foods over there. They featured the Philippines on one show and the host’s description after eating a banana que in a small market in Palawan — to paraphrase: its like bananas foster without the pompous waiter and the ridiculously high price.
Of course, considering the regular bananas we get here, I wasn’t suprised by his opinion. :)
matamis na saging with shaved ice and milk for merienda, in the summer months, is like rain to a waiting parched land. In the Pateros-Taguig area they call this merienda “ispakinayat” don’t know how the name came about, order above topped with “inutak”, a custard like kakanin made of malagkit and coconut cream, it would have made your day.
Such a coincidence! I am having my bowl of icey minatamis na saba with sago for merienda while reading this post. My family always cook it in big batches, enough to feed an army. Siblings and friends in the neighborhood get their share plus the guards at the outposts enjoy it too with some biscotti.
i like my minatamis na saging sans the coconut milk. i’m okay with adding milk just before eating though. :) yummmmm
This is my first time to go to your site…This is just perfect! I love to cook and enjoyed reading your blogs.
This looks wonderful MarketMan! I’m assuming that since you are in the Philippines that you used fresh coconut milk? Would canned coconut milk work in the same way?
when we cook minatamis na saging, its just the brown sugar we add, no coconut milk and definitely a hit for the family. Thanks for this post, need to go to the market to find good saging na saba..
Hi MM! This brings back memories of my childhood! I remember me and my siblings would ask our Mama (lola) to cook this for us for merienda. And each of us would have our own way of eating the dish – I’d have it with milk & ice cubes while my other sister would eat it straight out of the pot & piping hot; another sister would eat it without the sauce while my brother would eat it all mushed up. Ãœ
i miss this minatamis na saba, i like it chilled. . . yummy
I absolutely LOVE saba con hielo with milk. First time I learn about coconut milk. I should try this. I’ve been planning to locate this store in my hometown that sells saba and camote con hielo. We frequent this stall when we were in hi school. I think they add “apog” to give the saba and camote a sort of thin shell and when you bite it’s soft. Yum!
this is great with sago (tapioca balls).
This reminds me of the caramelized banana used in Razon’s halo-halo. Anyone have any idea how they make it? =) Such loooong lines at all their counters this summer.
i’m up to making sweet saba. u make it sound v.easy to make. :)
I’m bananas over bananas. Saba con hielo is my all time favorite. Up in the north, we use carabao’s milk then sprinkle with some crunchy pinipig. On the side, I sampled a bit of turon ala Max Brenner just last week served with a scoop of Haagen Dazs vanilla ice cream and chocolate syrup. A-ma-zing!
Do you have recipe for “INUTAK”. Made up of malagkit and coconut cream?
PLEASE GIVE ME RECIPE FOR “INUTAK”OF PATEROS FOR ICE CREAM..
Hey, I like inutak so much…i also want a recipe of that…pleaseeee…
Anyone got an “inutak” recipe?
can i have also the inutak recipe of pateros?
Pls.. does anybody know where I can buy “inutak”?. I know it is from pateros but nobody seems to know who makes it any longer.