Filipino Banana Ketchup
While it may sound odd, Filipino Banana Ketchup is a delicious condiment that is sweet and tangy, and remarkably similar to tomato ketchup in flavor. Give it a try with this easy recipe. You might just forget there are bananas in there!
What Is Banana Ketchup?
If you sit down for lunch in the Philippines, you might want to look twice before you reach for the nearest red condiment to add to your fries.
Most people outside of the Philippines, are not familiar with this red, tomato ketchup alternative. But, in the Philippines, people love their banana ketchup.
As the name implies, this red, sweet and tangy condiment is, in fact, made from bananas. But, if you were to taste it, you'd probably never guess.
Why Bananas In Ketchup?
Credit for banana ketchup goes to Maria Orosa (1893-1945) who was a food chemist with a goal to reduce the Philippines' reliance on imported goods, like tomatoes.
As Americans began traveling to the Philippines, they introduced the locals to canned goods and American condiments, like ketchup. Maria Orosa decided to try making a similar condiment out of a local crop: bananas and added little red dye to make the condiment more appealing and visually similar to the American import.
Near the end of WWII, banana ketchup began being mass-produced by Magdala V. Francisco, Sr. One story tells that the initial growth in popularity of banana ketchup was sparked by American soldiers in the Philippines who ran out of tomato ketchup.
But, the concept of a banana condiment is not a strange one in the Philippines. In fact, banana sauce has been widely used in the Philippines for ages.
And yes, most versions of banana ketchup that you will pick up from the store are in fact dyed red.
No trace of tomato, what-so-ever is in the traditional version of this "ketchup".
Our Filipino Banana Ketchup Recipe
For our version of banana ketchup, we did decide to add a small amount of tomato paste. This allows us to dye the ketchup naturally, and gives the flavor of the ketchup a hint of a familiar, tomato flavor.
We were honestly quite skeptical about this condiment.
I mean, really, tomatoes and bananas just really don't sound like they belong together.
But, we forged ahead.
And, let me tell you, we were pleasantly surprised.
Actually, we became slightly addicted to this sweet and tangy sauce.
It tastes surprisingly like tomato ketchup in the sweet and tangy categories, there's just a lack of bright, acidic, tomato-ness. But, honestly, we didn't really miss it.
How To Use Banana Ketchup
Now, here comes another interesting part.
Traditionally, banana ketchup is used as a condiment on Filipino beef omelettes and garlic fried rice.
Back up a minute.
So, we're putting bananas on our eggs and fried rice?
We weren't sure about it either.
But, even Tim (who can be a bit picky about his sweet and savory combos) had to agree that these combos were on to something.
So, if you like ketchup, you need to give this banana ketchup a try.
Use it on your eggs, your rice, or even your fries.
As strange as it seems, this works. It really works!
Filipino Banana Ketchup
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon oil
- 2 cloves garlic, chopped
- ½ small onion, diced
- 1 tsp fresh ginger, chopped
- 2 bananas, mashed (roughly 1 c)
- ¼ c tomato paste
- ¼ c brown sugar
- ½ c white vinegar
- ½ c water
- ⅛ teaspoon cayenne powder
Instructions
- In a medium sauté pan, heat oil over medium heat. Add the garlic, onion, and ginger. Sauté for 5 minutes, until soft and fragrant.
- Add the mashed bananas, tomato paste, and brown sugar. Mix well.
- Add the vinegar, water, and cayenne powder. Mix well and bring the mixture to a simmer. Reduce the heat to medium low and simmer for 10 minutes, until thickened slightly.
- Remove the pan from the heat and let the mixture cool slightly. Transfer the cooled mixture to the bowl of your food processor or blender. Blend until smooth.
Sarah founded Curious in 2010 as a way to save her recipe creations and share culinary experiences. Her love for cultural cuisines was instilled early by her French Canadian Grandmother. Her experience in the kitchen and in recipe development comes from over 10 years working in professional kitchens. She has traveled extensively and enjoys bringing the flavors of her travels back to create easy-to-make recipes.
Very tasty and good way to use bananas. I really like vinegar,but even for me this is alllllmost too much vinegar so I’d decrease it a bit next time.
Thanks Karen. We're glad you enjoyed it. Do play around with the recipe to suit your tastes!
In the Philippines, banana ketchup is paired with plain old fried chicken, especially the fried spring chicken (Max’s Restaurant) as well as fried spring rolls or even on sunny-side-up eggs. 😀
Thanks for sharing!
FYI: There’s a typo in the narrative…
“ We were honestly quite skeptical about this continent.”
I’m guessing it should say ‘condiment’ rather than ‘continent’ 🙂
Oh, too funny! No matter how many times an article is proof-read, typos still manage to slip though. Thank you for pointing it out kindly.
This is delicious! I used 3 over ripened bananas. And added the brown sugar but still was not sweet enough for me. Maybe next time I will add 1/4 C vinegar instead of 1/2 C. Other than that, this was great and my baby girl loved it with her hot dogs 🙂
So glad you enjoyed it!
Made this for Thanksgiving leftover sandwiches. It was a huge hit, even with the ketchup hater. I used pretty ripe bananas so I left out the sugar and I used some hot sauce for the cayenne. Will be making again immediately.
So glad you all enjoyed it! Great thought to use it on Thanksgiving leftover sandwiches!
Thumbs up on the recipe.
Banana Ketchup changed my life back in the early '80s while over seas. (Black Pepper and Hunts from the local store was my norm prior to the banana ketchup)
Instead of cayenne pepper, a nice Aji (an amarillo for a bright hotter ketchup, the panco for a mellower bbq taste?) or sweet Habanero pepper works well to add some citrus mild heat/flavor in collaboration to the sweetness of the banana. There is alot of room for personal preference here.
ph test all of your mixes, 4.0 or less if canning.
Again, thanks for a good base recipe.
Thanks for the insight on good chilies to change this up. Glad you enjoyed the recipe!
Do you use over ripe bananas like you would for banana bread or barely ripe ones?
We used nice and yellow bananas, not over-ripe. The more ripe/over-ripe the bananas get the sweeter your ketchup will be. So, if that's a quality you are looking for, you could use more over-ripe bananas.
Wow!!! Now I need to make that immediately!
You do!! It's delicious!
Wow. Im glad I found this, I'll be making it soon.. I cant use store bought banana ketchup, has bad ingredients in it especially red40. Thanks
Glad you found us!
Is it possible to waterbath this to preserve? Love love this site!
Oops also can I leave out or sub something for the tomato part (not allowed to eat them medically for now)?
I'd just leave out the tomato. Many traditional versions don't even use tomato. It's more for color and to bring the sauce a little closer to what we're used to in the west, flavor wise.
Thanks Paula. I personally wouldn't feel comfortable water bath canning this. I'm just not sure if there is enough acid or sugar to keep it stable. I'd want to run it by a canning expert before I took the change. If you wanted to make a big batch to save for later, I'd probably recommend freezing it. You could even freeze it in an ice cube tray so it's portioned into servings. Enjoy!