Your Friend, the Banana Leaf

Banana leaves. They makes grilling an almost effortless task, and infuses your cooked foods with the unmistakable aroma of the tropics.

Banana leaves are sometimes available fresh and when you find them that way, get them! The frozen ones, however, can also be used with no discernible difference. Just make sure you rinse or wipe off any dirt before using. To make the leaves flexible, pass them over a low open flame on the stovetop or the grill. Doing this will release the natural oils in the leaf — you can see the leaf changing color as you do this. After that you can use it in a myriad of ways: to wrap rice cakes, or fish for grilling or frying, to use as a cradle when frying delicate foods like omelettes, to line baking pans when making Asian cakes like bibingka, etc. You can use them to line plates or as plates themselves when on a picnic. Or as serving platter. At family reunions when I was little, whole banana leaves freshly cut from the trees would be lined up on the tables, and hot steaming rice piled high on them. Nothing like this green gift from nature to fancy up the feast.

I used the banana leaves to grill these trout — the trout was wrapped in prosciutto and drizzled with olive oil, then grilled and topped with a gremolata type mixture — not an Asian recipe, but the banana leaves did an awesome job.