About 34 pieces
Total time 2 hr 15
Some of my friends hate these and most of them love them, and I have watched people switch sides. My sister spent years refusing them and now she eats them before anyone else gets to the tray. This is not a crowd pleaser and I am not going to sell it as one. It is sweet and salty in a combination that people either get immediately or do not, and it comes back every apéro season regardless.
Use medium-ripe bananas. Very ripe ones turn to mush on the heat and will not hold their shape inside the bacon, and underripe ones need noticeably longer to soften.
Ingredients
The Honey Soy Marinade
- 240ml (1 cup) soy sauce
- 80ml (⅓ cup) honey
- 3 medium garlic cloves
- 1 Tbsp fresh ginger
The Rolls
- 4 medium-ripe bananas
- about 17 thin bacon rashers (roughly 200g)
Equipment
- About 40 toothpicks or short skewers
- Fine grater or microplane
- Basting or pastry brush
- Barbecue, or a cast iron pan
The Simple Process
- The Marinade: Peel and grate the ginger. Press the garlic into the soy sauce and honey, add the ginger and stir until the honey has dissolved. Leave it for 10 to 15 minutes so the flavours come together.
- Split the Sauce: Pour about a third into a separate bowl and set it aside. This is the clean sauce for the end, and the only part you can keep afterwards.
- Cube: Peel the bananas and cut them into 2cm chunks, all the same size. Halve each bacon rasher crossways. One rasher covers two chunks.
- Roll: Wrap a piece of bacon around each banana chunk and pin it through with a toothpick. Keep the rolls the same size as each other, or they cook at different speeds.
- Marinate: Lay the rolls in a dish, pour over enough marinade to coat them and turn them over. You probably will not need all of it. Cover and refrigerate for about 1 hour.
- Grill: Heat the barbecue to medium. Grill the rolls for 5 to 10 minutes, turning them and brushing with the marinade every 2 to 3 minutes, until the bananas go soft and give under the tongs.
- Sear: Brush once more with the clean sauce you set aside, then turn the heat to high. Give them 30 to 60 seconds a side until the bacon crisps and the glaze darkens. Honey burns fast, so do not walk away.
- Serve: Take them off and warn your guests there is a toothpick inside every one.
Pan version: Fry them in a cast iron pan with the barest film of oil. Medium heat first, moving them with tongs so they colour on all sides. When the bananas soften, turn the heat up and keep them moving until the bacon crisps. Same technique, different surface.
About the marinade
Whatever has touched the raw bacon has to be used while the rolls are cooking, or thrown away. Once it has been on raw meat it never goes back in the jar and never goes on cooked food.
Anything you did not pour over the rolls is clean. That keeps in the fridge for up to two weeks in a sealed jar, or freezes.
