How can I choose the best red bananas?

Red bananas are related to the more common yellow Cavendish banana and are also called red dacca bananas. These relatively small bananas have a strong, sweet taste with a "fruit" undertone and are consumed raw or used in baked and steamed meals. The best red bananas are dark colors, free of cracks, dark spots or cannas, while the fruit inside the skin should be outside white with a pink tinge. Raw fruit can be eaten at any stage of maturity, but solid bananas work better for cooking purposes. You can store these bananas like ordinary yellow and ripen at room temperature for several days. Some traders name this fruit in places where they are grown and can call it a Cuban red Cavendish or Jamaican red banana. Through these names, red bananas are grown throughout Asia, Central and South America, while Costa Rican bananas are common.

These clearly colored bananas are smaller than most of the North American supermarket varieties, about 5 to 8 inches long (13 to 20 cm). They have a strong taste of bananas that persist after cooking and have undertones of raspberries or mangoes. They can be used in breads, stewed as dessert or fried. Red bananas are also doing well when simple or in fruit salads.

The best red -skinned bananas have smooth, spotless peel with minimal spots or bruises. Avoid red bananas that have uneven dark spots, mushy feeling or cracks and holes in the skin, as well as any banana that is completely black or a moldy stem. When they are peeled, good samples contain opaque, whitish fruit with light pink or orange shade and without mash or translucent spots.

Darkens these bananas, when they ripen, with immature bananas sports light red bark and ripe bananas turn a very dark purple purple color. Less mature samples can be more visually attractive, but when consuming raw, they usually have a astringent taste. When choosing red bananas for cooking, look for solid samples with medium to dark red bark. However, bananas for baking or smoothies may be slightly mushy without disturbing the final product.

cooling allows these banana to maintain longer, but can spoil the taste. Whenever possible, buy red bananas a little less mature than you prefer, and then let them ripen at room temperature. Keep bananas away from other fruits such as apples and pears, because the gas that the bananas produce when maturation can cause another fruit to spoil.