I swear, this blog is not coming from the insane asylum.
All right, there’s just no way around this one. The whole idea of trying to pass off banana peels as bacon is deeply disturbing. I think it’s safe to say that the nut jobs have taken this whole vegan thing to an unhealthy level. Psychiatric intervention is long overdue.
But I’m like that dang moth drawn to the flame. What if…? The bacon gets mostly rave reviews on the It Doesn’t Taste Like Chicken blog. (You can go look at the pictures and the rave reviews, if you're interested.) The most common complaint is that the “facon” is too salty, for which everyone then recommends using low sodium soy sauce. I’ve got a boatload of that.
I was really itching to try this out, so I picked up some organic bananas ("they" say that a lot of pesticides are used on bananas, and that the organic ones are far cleaner). I dutifully washed them and then proceeded with the recipe below.
Banana Peel Bacon "Facon"
3 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon maple syrup
½ teaspoon smoked paprika or liquid smoke
½ teaspoon garlic powder
Peels from 2 very ripe bananas
1 tablespoon coconut or peanut oil
Make the marinade by combining the marinade ingredients in a container long enough to accommodate the peels.
Prepare the banana peels (which must be very ripe—yellow with lots and lots of brown spots) by removing them from the bananas and then tearing them into 4 strips each. Use a spoon to lightly scrape off the creamy white interior of the banana peel, leaving just the peel. Add the peels to the marinade and toss to coat. Let marinate for 10 minutes to a few hours.
Heat the oil in a large skillet or frying pan over medium heat. When hot, add the peels and fry for a couple of minutes per side, until golden and just starting to blister. As the sugars in the peel carmelize and burn, the air may become a little smoky. When cooked, remove from pan and drain on paper towels. The facon will become crispier as it cools.
Family reviews: Hah! All the credibility the vegans gained with using aquafaba (the liquid from canned garbanzo beans) to make chocolate mousse and cool whip has just been obliterated.
There was no way I could serve this stuff to my family--and believe me, they will say that I've been known to serve some sketchy stuff. (Not true, but whatever.)
The texture wasn't actually too bad, but it wasn't really all that flavorful. And there was no way a BLT was going to somehow hide that this stuff wasn't real. Bacon has a substantial amount of fat in it. One of my favorite sayings is "No fat, no flavor." The only fat in this recipe comes from the oil it's fried in.
But there are a couple of things to be learned here, other than the fact that vegans can't be trusted. The first is that you probably don't want to make facon for yourself. The second is that banana peels can be eaten. So if you happen to have fresh bananas (not likely when the just-in-time delivery system collapses, but you never know), you can offer the banana peels to those who didn't store food. You can even pass along the recipe for this facon. They won't die by eating it--see, I'm still alive!--and they can fill their tummies, albeit somewhat reluctantly.
Links to related posts:
References:
https://itdoesnttastelikechicken.com/banana-peel-bacon/
23 june 2024
Jennifer, thanks for this post, it made me smile!
ReplyDeleteThank you for a snow day chuckle :-) I would have Paid to be a fly on the wall for that event.
ReplyDeleteVegans don't want us to eat meat, but they want to make everything taste like meat. Go figure. :)
ReplyDelete