Imagine the banana trunk equivalent of ubod, and that, as I understand it is UBAD. The tender core of the upper trunk of the banana plant, ubad is a water filled, crisp, coiled major “vein” (for lack of a more scientific term) or “artery” at the center of the banana plant trunk. I ran across it once before, at a dinner catered by Margarita Fores of Cibo where she paired it with sagada oranges and romaine in a refreshing salad. A quick google yields several references to dishes from Iloilo and thereabouts that inclue ubad in dishes such as kadyos, chicken and ubad. I have NEVER come across this ingredient in Manila markets… so you can imagine my surprise and delight when Margarita send several sections of ubad stalks over the house a few days ago… Apparently, her cook just harvested some of it from their own backyard here in Manila… My problem was… what to do with it?
Never having come across this ingredient in its natural state before, I decided to be safe and simply try to replicate to some degree, the salad that Margarita had prepared using the ubad. I sliced some of the raw ubad and tasted it. It was crisp, high in water content with a subtle flavor… in fact, it was quite bland. We steamed the sliced ubad for a few minutes until it was wilted and set it aside to cool. In another bowl, I mixed some fresh orange sections, a sliced anjou pear, some oil and vinegar and orange juice, salt and pepper and stuck this in the fridge. I also stuck some cleaned romaine lettuce and the ubad into the fridge to chill.
Just before serving, I tossed all of the ingredients together and served this cold. It was very good. Though i have to say the ubad was more of a textural experience rather than a flavorful one. The next time I manage to find this ingredient, I will try it in a chicken stew with kadyos…
Thank you, Margarita, for sending over the fresh ubad. If readers who are familiar with ubad have any other good ideas about how I might enjoy this ingredient, please leave a comment! Thanks! :)
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Here in Houston (TX) banana trees are so easy to grow, but rarely that we harvest a fruit because of the season. Some made as far as having puso, but then it will be cold na, so ayun, hindi na nagtutuloy ang pag-labas ng saging. So most of us just use the plant to have that “home” feeling in our backyard, beside we plant it in low areas of the yard, so it serves as a sort of “water-drainage”. Comes winter, the plant die and since its ugly, we just cut them down, not knowing that there is edible part in the trunk. Well, I will spread around this info to some of my friends and relatives. Yon nga lang, aantayin ko ang post ni Mr. MM regarding a tasteful way of utilizing banana trunk. Thanks po.
MM, can you slice it thinly across the grain? Will it fall apart like a “libro” ? If not, then maybe you could make an Oriental salad…thinly sliced ubad, chopped red and yellow peppers, sliced scallions, grated ginger, and an Oriental dressing like the recipe I gave Zena a while back. Since you say it is bland, it will make a nice refreshing salad…I do the same thing with lotus root sliced thinly on a mandoline..
Or how about UBAD ACHARA?
hi MM! it may be about time to correct the chicken, kadyos, and ubad recipe you had in your archives(if you have fresh kadyos available). in iloilo, we sometimes add chopped ubad to our monggo soup, and it adds texture.. (that’s my favorite type of monggo)
how about lumpiang ubad….or saluyot with ubad….can it be substiture with ubod. It is a long shot for me here in SG to find an ubad. This is one example where our filipino farmers could benefit with our natural resources. With the current crisis you can still eat nutritious food without spending a cent just help your neighbor to cut his banana tree. I remember my lolo tellimg me that they only go to market once a month the rest of the food comes from their backyard and farmland from chicken, fish, rice, vegetables to even spices and fruits.
MM,
One of the specialties in my province – Aklan – is Inubarang Manok, a delicious stew-like dish made of ubad and chicken. We cook this dish only on special occassions as its production meant felling one banana “tree”.
Lumpang sariwa with ubod. I think that’s the only dish that is worth buying here from Goldilocks here in California.
Being from Quezon, most of our dishes are either plain bulanglang or guinataan. I have had ubad before with gata and shrimps, cooked the same way you would with nangka.
According to my lola, that was discovered during the Japanese occupation when food was scarce, people had to resort to what is available. I guess the same is true for what is now referred to as exotic food. ha ha..
MM your blog is really evolving, now it is more than a wealth of information, I am enjoying the contribution that your regulars and sharing.
I am enjoying my daily dose of MM. Thanks.
MM, do check the blogsites :Flavours of Iloilo and iloveiloilo.com–they have recipes and pictures. lots of childhood memories with ubad..
I wonder what they did with the trunk. I remember sitting in the shallow, rocky part of the Pagsanjan river and using the curved trunk as a plate. What a novelty is was to me as a child.
Not very scientific but I think it is also referred to as banana pith.
1. kilawin na tanigue
2. saute it and put in lumpia filling.
Hi MM, now I can’t wait to go home and do some cooking with ubad! We have plenty of bananas grown at home and just leave the felled trunks to rot whenever we harvest bananas. So making use of the pith would be a good idea. Thanks.
Gay
this is so creative! i never knew ubad could be done this way. and they don’t darken while you’re slicing them, MM?
MM, the texture…is it more like labanos?
My neighbour’s banana tree is just awaiting its destiny. One of these days, he will be put to sleep and go dormant and wake up again in the spring. I will give advance notice to my neighbour to save the UBAD for me.
I like anything cooked with gata in it… thank you Penoybalut…I will make some of that soon as I get the UBAD….but i think I will use most of it for ACHARA.
Can this UBAD be frozen? Because if it can be, then I know at least 6 people down the road with BANANA trees!
Have you tried the CHINESE BEEF BRISKET with daikon, MM? If the texture is similar to daikon, then maybe it can used in place of daikon!
I miss home. In Laguna, they call it ubod. =)
Wow, betty q.!! You are so creative! You and MM really inspire me in the kitchen!
One of my favorite dishes that comes from Bacolod is Ubad with Kadios (Black beans) and chicken or pork, soured with “Batwan” and with a hint of tanglad. I am salivating just thinking about it.I still have to find a restaurant in Manila who reproduces this Visayan dish. This must be a Visayan thing because I have never seen ubad served in Manila. I wish I payed attention as to how this dish was prepared by the cook then. I do not know if this is also cooked in Cebu and the neighboring provinces.
betty q, i once bought lotus roots and didn’t know what to do with them. i rmembererd boiling them but still were tough. they’re so beautiful with their lacey appearance and it would be great to use them…
Estella…if you want to add the lotus root to soup ….masarap with pork bones, chinese mushrooms, red dates. MIL adds dried oysters and dried pusit to the soup and SIMMERS THE SOUP FOREVER!!!! The lotus root will take on a pinkish …more like dusty rose hue. Oh, cut them into chunks.
Another one is the Oriental Lotus Root Salad…slice them thinly using a mandoline if you have. It will discolor so have a bowl of acidulated water ready and drop them there as you slice them. Now, it will have that slimy sappy thingy and to get rid of it, blanch the thinly sliced lotus root in boiling water for 1 to 2 minutes. You want to retain the crunch. Then shock them in icy cold water. …drain thoroughly and dress it with the Sesame dressing. Give it a a bit of zip by adding some crushed chili flakes and choppped up cilantro and toasted sesame seeds and add your peppers…
You can also dip it in tempura batter. Cut into slices a little bit thicker than the one you use for the salad. Then Parboil till tender first before frying. Make sure you dry it thoroughly before frying…
Estella…if you want to add the lotus root to soup ….masarap with pork bones, chinese mushrooms, red dates. MIL adds dried oysters and dried pusit to the soup and SIMMERS THE SOUP FOREVER!!!! The lotus root will take on a pinkish …more like dusty rose hue. Oh, cut them into chunks.
Another one is the Oriental Lotus Root Salad…slice them thinly using a mandoline if you have. It will discolor so have a bowl of acidulated water ready and drop them there as you slice them. Now, it will have that slimy sappy thingy and to get rid of it, blanch the thinly sliced lotus root in boiling water for 1 to 2 minutes. You want to retain the crunch. Then shock them in icy cold water. …drain thoroughly and dress it with the Sesame dressing. Give it a a bit of zip by adding some crushed chili flakes and choppped up cilantro and toasted sesame seeds and add your peppers…
You can also dip it in tempura batter. Cut into slices a little bit thicker than the one you use for the salad. Then Parboil till tender first before frying. Make sure you dry it thoroughly before frying…
we use the ubad for lumpia sariwa and as a substitute for fruit punch…. i think Bobs’ (bacolod) fruit punch uses this…. mmmmm
MM, baka the watery extract you got was agimat?
hi MM, i came across ubad when i was in bacolod last year and i was even surprise bcoz’it is not served in cebu…as far as i know :-)…but all in all the nilagang manok with ubad was “good”…
Hi betty q. Your culinary ideas are getting more and more exotic for me, lotus root in acidulated water (vinegar or hydrochloric acid?…just kidding), Chinese beef brisket with daikon and now ubad as daikon substitute? tho I think ubad will not have the added zing of daikon which has its distinct flavor. Ubad is a lot blander, if I remember.
So how do you cook the brisket?
juls ang sa bob’s ya ubad na nga iya sang puno sang lubi. ang ubod halin sa saging ang ubad halin sa lubi…
page 17 of Namit gid! (St. Scho cookbook) has a recipe for chicken with kadios and ubad which I tried. According to the book the ubad has to prepared to remove the sap and fibers…
“Squeeze rock salt with ubad to remove sap. Put squeezed ubad in a bowl. Twist the end of a barbeque stick in the bowl of ubad to remove the fibers. Continue twisting until all fibers are removed.”
Reference:
St. Scholastica’s Academy Bacolod High School Class of 1980 (2004) Namit Gid! A Collection of favorite Ilonggo dishes and other well loved recipes. (p. 17)Talisay City,Philippines
ubad is from banana–that’s why its ubad with kadios and manok and ubod is from the coconut tree–for fruit punch and lumpiang sariwa.
My Dad-an Ilonggo (may he rest in peace)–used to harvest this and make my elder sister cook this. Pity,can’t remember what dish it was (was so young then). Am familiar with this but can’t remember. We also used to harvest the same thing from our bamboo……ahhhh..childhood memories.
does it taste sweet?
hi MM, family, and friends! = ) since the banana tree is a monocot(yledon), the atactostele (central pulp) is strewn with both xylem and phloem, and ‘if my memory serves me correctly’, the phloem carries water from the roots up to the upper reaches of the tree while the xylem carries everything else. (bites into yellow capsicum) hehe..
don’t really know how to prepare it ‘traditionally’ but i’d probably use it like ubod in lumpia (as previously mentioned), or like picama/singkamas with some bagoong (or that thai? sweet chili shrimp paste), or as a sub for water chestnuts, or lotus root. altogether unsure but the bagoong pairing’s a pretty safe bet, imho.
oh, oh, oh! chips! baked/deep fried with some sort of dip! =)
In Bali, they have a rich and spicy stew with this banana pith called “jukut ares”.
As an American hoping to retire in The Philippines, I enjoy your blog very much. It is very colorful and attractive; and full of interesting information and comments. If I could suggest to EbbaMyra in Houston; it is entirely possible to have fruit every year from your banana. I’m in Dallas and I enjoy the tasty, free from pesticide fruit from my bananas. Before the first frost in late November or so, just cut the top of the stem off, leaving 5 or 6 feet of trunk on the banana. I then make an enclosure from plywood around the trunk and fill the enclosure with grass clippings. This protects the stem from freezing and next year you will have bananas. I got my bananas (several improved Asian varieties from “Going Bananas” in Florida, they ship by mail. Enjoy!
Hi MM,
I’m an Ilongga and reading this article makes me crave of our ever-popular Ilonggo tinola of ubad with “kadyos” and chicken. I have also tasted pickled ubad once and just loved it too! Fresh lumpia with ubad is also a must try!
Hi MM,
I think the most authentic Ilonggo version of Ubad sang Saging is with Monggo nga Ginlaga and Manok nga Bisaya and with Lemon Grass…that’s soothing…
Saan po ba galing ang masarap na ubad o ubod ng saging? Iyong nagbunga na o iyong hindi pa nakakabunga? thanks.
I heard that it is made into a delicious dish in Batanes. It is also prepared as a main ingredient in a curry in India. I think you can use the banana core when you cut the banana tree (use the “saba” or other plantain varieties) while the fruits were ripe or tender enough. In this case, you will get the banana fruit and the banana core.
By the way, I heard the juice from banana trunk has anti-cancer properties. Mix a little juice from banana trunk to a glass or liter of water. The water will then taste the same, but it’s pH balance will become more alkaline, and better for your health. The banana core would also have good antioxidant properties, although it has not been extensively researched on.
Hello,
I grew knowing that banana core, or even young bamboo shoots are called ‘UBOD”,
meaning… the very core/inside the plant trunk.
Am very pleased to have by change come across your site.
Thank you.