Pisang Goreng Recipe (aka Goreng Pisang)

Pisang goreng or goreng pisang as Singaporeans call them, are fried banana fritters. And they are a huge tea time favourite in many parts of the world, not just Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei and Indonesia.

Estimated reading time: 11 minutes

What is Pisang Goreng?

Pisang goreng are fried banana fritters. They are ripe bananas that have been dipped in a simple batter and deep fried. The result is a banana that’s crispy on the outside and creamy and sweet on the inside.

Let’s break it down, as usual, shall we? Stress in on the bold syllable.

• Pisang = banana, pee (short sound) – sung
• Goreng = fried, to fry, go – rayng

In Malay and Indonesian, the adjective (descriptive word) comes after the noun. So pisang goreng is the grammatically correct way of saying fried banana.

However, for whatever reason, Singaporeans tend to call it goreng pisang. This is also one of those foods that is called by its Malay name by all the locals, regardless of their ethnicity and language spoken.

So the Malays, Chinese, Indians, Pakistanis, Eurasians and Nyonyas will all call them pisang goreng or goreng pisang.

Want to read more about the ethnic mix in Singapore and Malaysia? Head on over to this page.

The Recipe

Homemade pisang goreng is very easy to make. I was frying these guys at the tender age of 10. Y’all know I grew up with my grandma and that she ran a food business right?

For years, we made goreng pisang every day, 5 days a week, to sell. Alongside other favourites like jemput jemput (cekodok), onde onde and nasi lemak. And since they always sold out, it’s safe to say they were very, very good. My recipe here is based on that one, with added baking powder for lightness.

This is what we’ll be doing:

1. Make the batter and set aside.
2. Slice the bananas. You can halve them lengthwise or, if using larger bananas like pisang tanduk and plantains, in quarters. Or even in smaller diagonal slices. This is especially if you don’t have a large wok/pan or don’t want to use up too much oil to fry. See video.
3. Heat the cooking oil, dip the bananas in the batter and fry them a few at a time for just a few minutes.
4. Take them out and drain on a plate lined with kitchen paper. That’s it. No rocket science.

Best Pisang Goreng?

So what’s the best pisang goreng, or goreng pisang? You’ll see many, many claims to that effect online, and, basically, it’s all about the crispness. You’ll see descriptions like “crispy for hours” or the crispiest “pisang goreng” and so on.

To me, the best goreng pisang is a very subjective affair. Take me for example, I’m not a fan of banana fritters that have an overly crunchy or crispy batter. Or ones with hardly any batter covering them.

Think of the batter recipe here as a template and start with it the first time. It’ll give you a batter that is a little in between, not too crispy and not too much batter to banana ratio either, once fried.

The image below shows you the difference between an all rice flour batter, and one that is a mixture. You can play around with the ratio to get the best goreng pisang to your taste, more below.

Ingredients

We don’t need many ingredients, although if you were to look online, you’ll probably be a little puzzled by the various combinations you see. Cornflour (cornstarch in the US), turmeric, lye and custard powder are just some of the other ingredients you may see online.

These are the ingredients that we need to make our pisang goreng:

• rice flour and all purpose flour – more below
• bananas – not all bananas are created equal – more below
• vegetable oil or any flavourless oil (canola, rapeseed, sunflower, peanut)
• salt and sugar
• baking powder

Best Bananas for Pisang Goreng

The best bananas for goreng pisang will be the ones that are starchy and can therefore, hold their shape when fried. They tend to have a slightly sweet flavour, with just a hint of sharpness that’s almost sour. Most can be eaten raw or cooked.

I’ll give you some examples of the best kinds of bananas to use. When you shop, ask, or look for cooking bananas, as opposed to dessert bananas. The former will hold their shape, while the latter will basically fall apart as they have more sugar than starch.

• pisang raja – this (along with pisang kepok) is quite possibly everyone’s favourite for pisang goreng. It’s creamy with a great sweet and tart balance.
• pisang tanduk – a plantain variety, so pretty long.
• pisang kepok, pisang abu or nipah, saba banana in the West, Dippig and Opo’ulu in Hawaii.
• pisang nangka – jackfruit banana in English
• cardaba – similar to saba but slightly bigger, native to the Philippines

Plantains

Plantains are easily available in many parts of the world. To many of us displaced Singaporeans, Malaysians, Indonesians and Bruneians, this is our best bet. 

Plantains are not as sweet as the cooking bananas we’d usually use, like pisang raja. But if you can’t get other starchy bananas, they make the best pisang goreng. You want to use plantains with very, very dark, practically black, skin. This means that more of the starch in the fruit has been converted to sugar, and it will be at its sweetest stage, but still sturdy enough to be fried.

The riper the plantain (and other cooking banana), the softer the inside, once fried.

If all else fails, and you can only find one variety of cooking bananas where you live, don’t fret. Get bananas that are only just starting to ripen. Then, double up on the amount of sugar used in your batter to add sweetness to your banana fritter. So if you can only find Cavendish bananas, that’s what you’ll have to do.

Doesn’t matter if the inside is meltingly soft, it’ll still be delicious.

Goreng Pisang Batter

Goreng pisang batter is probably where many people differ. The fairly thick batter is crucial to the final crispy texture and flavour of your goreng pisang. How crunchy and crispy your final fritter is will depend on your batter.

But this is also a matter of preference, as mentioned above. Not everyone likes their goreng pisang extra crispy, I certainly don’t. Let’s take a look at the flours commonly used.

Flours

• Rice flour
• All purpose flour
• Cornflour (corn starch in the US) – I don’t use this, never have

The more rice flour you use, the lighter your batter. If you’re only using rice flour, you’ll end up with a very lacy batter, as you can see in the image. On top of that, it’s more banana than batter. The advantage here is that you have gluten free pisang goreng.

Some like more all purpose flour for a banana that’s encased in batter. You see, it’s all a matter of taste. The best pisang goreng isn’t necessarily the crispiest one or the one with less batter, it all depends on what you like. 

The cornflour is there to aid in binding, but I personally don’t find it necessary. We never used it in my grandma’s kitchen. So as mentioned above, once you’ve made pisang goreng with the recipe here, play around with the batter to your liking.

My batter recipe here uses a ratio of 4:1 with regards to the flours. So we’ve got 4 portions of rice flour to 1 portion of all purpose flour, with a little baking powder. This is how I’ve been frying goreng pisang for over 2 decades. It’s my favourite batter, producing pisang goreng with a light, slight airy batter, with a crunch. The crunch keeps for a couple of hours, getting softer as time goes by.

How to Eat Goreng Pisang?

These deep fried bananas are commonly eaten as a snack at tea time or mid morning. Goreng pisang are best eaten when still fairly hot or warm. Even the crunchiest pisang goreng will eventually lose that crispness given an hour or so.

A cup of tea or coffee is a must. And if you’re feeling adventurous, go make some teh tarik to serve with your pisang goreng.

Teh Tarik

A milky, frothy tea, popularly sold at hawker centres in Singapore and Malaysia.

Check out this recipe!

Most people will eat these fritters as they are. Some like a light dusting of icing sugar all over. And others, like me, love to dip it in chilli sauce or sambal kicap (spicy soy sauce, click for recipe). Any chilli sauce will work, a sweet and spicy one is best. Lingham is my favourite.

Another great way to serve pisang goreng is with some vanilla ice cream, clotted cream, mascarpone or any cream. Imagine this:

Hot pisang goreng, topped with mascarpone, with a light drizzle of honey (or hot honey!) – totally yummy!

Can you Reheat Goreng Pisang?

Sure you can. If truth be told, I just zap it in the microwave oven for about 15 seconds per banana. If you want a little crisp with it, fry it in some hot oil again for about 1 minute.

Or use an air fryer at 200C/400F for just 1 minute.

Any leftover pisang goreng will keep for a day quite happily.

Tools Similar to those Used in this Recipe

• Non-stick Wok
• Slotted Spoon
• Pyrex Glass Bowl
• Chopping Board

FAQs

What is goreng pisang made of?

Goreng pisang is made of bananas in batter, fried in oil. They are banana fritters.

Do you need sodium bicarbonate to make pisang goreng?

No you don’t. Let me explain. Sodium bicarbonate is used in baking when there is an acid or acidic ingredient involved, like yoghurt, citrus fruit and vinegar. This is because bicarbonate of soda needs an acid to activate it, unlike baking powder. However, in the absence of an acid, bicarbonate soda will still hasten the Maillard reaction, resulting in a golden brown batter quicker.

Do I need lye for making pisang goreng?

Absolutely not. Lye is often used in cooking for imparting a deep brown colour, like in mooncakes and pretzels. Same Maillard principle as when using sodium bicarbonate. Honestly, I don’t know why one would use lye when frying bananas. It takes the pisang goreng about 2-3 minutes to get to that beautiful golden brown stage, there is no need to darken it further by using lye.

You don’t need lye to give you a crispy batter either.

Do I need turmeric to make goreng pisang?

Nope. But you can use it if you want, for the colour. But take a look at the pictures on this page? Do we really need to add turmeric for colour? I don’t think so either.

What type of banana is goreng pisang?    

There isn’t a single type of banana in pisang goreng. There are many options, see article above.

What country is pisang goreng from?

Pisang goreng can be found in many parts of the world, under various names. It is thought to have been introduced to South East Asia by the Portuguese in the 16th century. I’m personally not convinced, but you can read more about the Portuguese and its influence on Malacca in this article on LinsFood.

Is pisang goreng a dessert?

It is traditionally eaten as a tea time snack, but sure, top it with ice cream and it becomes a dessert!

Does pisang goreng batter need egg?

Nope, you don’t need any egg to make pisang goreng. In fact, it alters the flavour of the batter, making it heavier.

Is pisang goreng vegan?

Yes, pisang goreng is totally vegan.

Is pisang goreng gluten free?

You can make gluten free pisang goreng by using only rice flour to make the batter.

And that’s it. Finally. Let’s get cooking!