Bang Khonthi, Samut Songkhram
Hak Muk banana
The chunky, angular banana born to be grilled
A big, angular cooking banana with firm, starchy flesh, delicious grilled, boiled or fried into chips. Grown the organic way, with no chemicals.
Get to know Hak Muk banana
Hak Muk is a big, thick-skinned ABB-group banana with clearly angular fruit. Once you've seen one, you'll always spot it. It's also known as Kluai Som. When ripe, the skin turns yellowish-brown and the flesh inside is orange.
It's a cooking banana with firm, starchy flesh, so Thais rarely eat it raw. Instead it gets grilled, roasted in its skin, boiled or fried into chips. Try grilled pressed bananas or banana chips, and your whole house will smell amazing.
At Catherine Farm our Hak Muk bananas grow in a mixed, organic orchard, with no herbicides, no growth accelerators, no chemicals and no chemical ripening agents. See how we look after the farm.
Want some Hak Muk for your grill? Send us an email.
Highlights
- An ABB-group cooking banana
- Big fruit with thick skin and distinct angles
- Yellowish-brown skin and orange flesh when ripe
- Also known as Kluai Som, and grown in every region of Thailand
Handy tips
How to choose, store and enjoy Hak Muk banana at its best.
How to enjoy
- Grill or roast it in its skin until fragrant, and eat it hot
- Grill, press flat and drizzle with sweet coconut sauce for kluai thap
- Boil it in its skin for an easy, filling snack
- Slice it thinly and fry into crispy banana chips
How to choose
- For chips, use green, unripe fruit with hard, firm flesh: it slices easily and fries up crisp
- For grilling, boiling or kluai thap, use fruit that is just turning yellow or ripe: sweeter and softer
- Choose plump fruit with clear angles, unbroken skin and few bruises
Storage
- Keep them at room temperature, in the shade and out of the sun
- Don't refrigerate unripe fruit: the cold darkens the peel and slows ripening
- Leftover grilled or boiled bananas go into a covered box in the fridge; warm them up within a day or two
- Keep banana chips in an airtight jar so they stay crunchy
Good to know
- Hak Muk belongs to a group of starchy bananas grown mainly for cooking (ProMusa (opens in a new tab)), which is why Thais usually roast it or turn it into chips instead of eating it raw (Botanical Garden Organization, Thailand)
- Bananas get most of their energy from carbohydrates, so a boiled or grilled Hak Muk makes a filling snack (general banana data from USDA FoodData Central (opens in a new tab))
