Chef Joost
Acar Ketimun (Indo-Dutch Cucumber Pickle)
Acar means pickle, ketimun means cucumber, and this little bowl of sweet vinegar, chilli, and crunch is the cool note that lets an Indo-Dutch rijsttafel keep its balance.
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Pisang Goreng (Indo-Dutch Fried Bananas)
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Pisang means banana, goreng means fried, and on the Indo-Dutch table this small golden side dish does the clever work of sweetness among sambal, rice, and ketjap.
Side Dishes
Dutch
Dinner Party
Special Occasion
Celebration
15 min
Active Time
15 min cook•30 min total
Yield6 servings
During my manuscript year in Fez I learned that sweet beside sharp is not a trick, it is old kitchen wisdom. Later, at Indo-Dutch tables in the Netherlands, I saw the same intelligence in a bowl of sambal, a spoon of ketjap manis, and a plate of pisang goreng passed around the rice. History and cookery, they cannot be separated. Sometimes they sit quite plainly next to the peanuts.
The name already tells you almost everything, and for once we don't need to bully it. In Indonesian and Malay, pisang is banana, goreng is fried. But let me tell you a secret: on a Dutch rijsttafel, the fried banana is not dessert pretending to be dinner. It is balance. The sweetness softens chili, the crisp batter catches salty sauce, and the firm banana inside stays just sturdy enough to remind you that ripeness has a limit.
This is where the home cook must be exacting in the simplest way. Use bakbananen, firm plantains, yellow with only a few black freckles. A soft dessert banana collapses into sugar paste in the pan, and no batter can rescue it with dignity. Hou het altijd simpel, always keep it simple: a thin batter, hot oil, no crowding, and the patience to fry in small batches. The Dutch table adopted this dish through a hard colonial history, and the honest way to cook it now is neither to flatten that history nor decorate it. Make it well. Pass it generously.
Pisang goreng is Indonesian, where fried bananas are sold as everyday gorengan, fried snacks, and served at home with tea or as part of a larger meal. In the Netherlands it entered domestic and restaurant cooking through the Indo-Dutch table after centuries of Dutch colonial rule in the Indonesian archipelago, becoming a familiar sweet side in rijsttafel, the many-dish rice meal developed in colonial Indonesia and later popularized in Dutch restaurants. Its role on that table is practical as much as nostalgic: sweetness and crisp batter temper sambal, salt, and ketjap without turning the meal into dessert.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
firm ripe plantains (bakbananen)
Quantity
4
peeled and sliced lengthwise or on a long diagonal
plain flour
Quantity
150g
rice flour or cornstarch
Quantity
2 tablespoons
sugar
Quantity
1 tablespoon
baking powder
Quantity
1/2 teaspoon
fine salt
Quantity
1/4 teaspoon
cold sparkling water or cold water
Quantity
200ml
egg
Quantity
1
neutral oil for frying
Quantity
about 750ml
ketjap manis (optional)
Quantity
to serve
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| firm ripe plantains (bakbananen)peeled and sliced lengthwise or on a long diagonal | 4 |
| plain flour | 150g |
| rice flour or cornstarch | 2 tablespoons |
| sugar | 1 tablespoon |
| baking powder | 1/2 teaspoon |
| fine salt | 1/4 teaspoon |
| cold sparkling water or cold water | 200ml |
| egg | 1 |
| neutral oil for frying | about 750ml |
| ketjap manis (optional) | to serve |
Equipment Needed
- •Heavy-bottomed frying pan or Dutch oven
- •Deep-fry thermometer
- •Wire rack or paper towels for draining
- •Tongs or a slotted spoon
Instructions
- 1
Choose the bananas
Use plantains that are yellow with a few black freckles and still firm when pressed. Peel them and cut each one lengthwise into three or four long slices, or on a long diagonal into thick pieces. If the fruit feels soft enough to mash with your thumb, it is too ripe for this pan; save it for another use.
- 2
Mix the batter
Whisk the flour, rice flour or cornstarch, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a bowl. Beat the egg with the cold water, then whisk it into the dry ingredients until you have a batter a little thinner than pancake batter. A few small lumps are innocent. Over-whisking makes the coating tough, and toughness is not a virtue here.
Cold water helps the batter fry crisp before the banana softens too far. This is a small thing, but small things are where fried food tells on you. - 3
Heat the oil
Pour the oil into a heavy pan to a depth of about 4cm and heat it to 175C. If you have no thermometer, drop in a little batter; it should sink for a breath, rise, and fizz steadily without darkening at once. Too cool and the banana drinks oil. Too hot and the batter browns before the fruit warms.
- 4
Fry in batches
Dip the plantain pieces in the batter, let the excess drip back into the bowl, and lower them carefully into the oil. Fry in small batches for 2 to 3 minutes per side, turning once, until deep golden and lightly blistered at the edges. Do not crowd the pan. A crowded pan cools down, and then you are boiling in oil, which is a sentence no cook wants written about them.
- 5
Drain and serve
Lift the fried bananas onto a rack or paper towel and give them one quiet minute to shed excess oil. Serve them while the crust is still crisp, beside rice, sambal, satay, or a full rijsttafel, with a small dish of ketjap manis if you like. They should taste sweet, not sugary, and the banana should hold its shape under the teeth.
Chef Tips
- •Buy bakbananen, plantains, not ordinary dessert bananas. Dessert bananas go soft too quickly and collapse in the oil; the proper fruit stays creamy inside and structured enough to slice.
- •Serve pisang goreng with savory dishes, not only after them. On a rijsttafel it belongs among chili, peanuts, rice, and ketjap, where its sweetness has work to do.
- •If you are frying for guests, keep batches small and steady. Fried batter likes space, and a dinner party likes a cook who is not panicking over a crowded pot.
- •A pinch of ground cinnamon is common in some Dutch home versions, but I leave it out here. The banana and the table around it are already speaking clearly.
Advance Preparation
- •The dry batter ingredients can be mixed several hours ahead; add the egg and cold water only just before frying.
- •Cut the plantains shortly before cooking. If they must wait, cover them lightly, but do not batter them in advance.
- •Pisang goreng is best eaten within minutes of frying. Leftovers can be reheated in a hot oven for 6 to 8 minutes, though the first crispness will not fully return.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 170g)
Calories
420 calories
Total Fat
17 g
Saturated Fat
2 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
15 g
Cholesterol
30 mg
Sodium
380 mg
Total Carbohydrates
67 g
Dietary Fiber
4 g
Sugars
23 g
Protein
6 g
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