Minatamis na Saging
If you had noticed I barely post Filipino desserts, while we may have a lot of popular ones, most of it are of American origin and there are only few authentic Filipino desserts like the Buko pandan, Buko salad, halo halo and minatamis na saging (banana in sugar syrup).
Minatamis na saging if directly translated means sweetened sugar, it is a very sweet dessert which is made out of Cardaba banana or locally known as “Saba” that is cooked in brown sugar syrup. Cardaba bananas are not your normal banana and it is used widely in Philippine cuisine, it is characterized by its fat elongated oval shape and it is usually used for cooking but can be eaten raw as well. Usually used as a snack like turon, banana cue or guinataang halo halo but it can also be used in savoury dishes like puchero, nilagang baka and pata tim.
A relatively easy dessert to make all you need to do is cook the bananas in sugar syrup; it can be enjoyed hot or chilled.
Ingredients
6 medium ripe cardaba/saba banana’s, sliced
2 cups brown sugar
3 cups water
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup black sago pearls
evaporated milk
Method
1. Cook sago pearls according to packet instructions.
2. Pour a tablespoon of sugar in a saucepan, turn on heat and cook until sugar melts and partly burns (the slightly burnt taste gives an extra flavourful but do not burn it much, it will taste bad).
3. Pour the water then let it boil. Once boiling add the remaining sugar and salt, let the sugar dissolve in medium heat then simmer for 10 minutes.
4. Add the bananas then cook for 10 minutes.
5. Remove from heat, add the sago pearls then place in dessert plate, serve by topping it off with evaporated milk.
This looks like a fabulous dessert. I have never seen black sago pearls before – they sounds great. I love normal sago – are the black pearls similar?
Mandy
Its the same, its just a colour difference
This is delicious looking and I love anything with bananas, will try and let you know.
love this!!
I love your presentation!
where do you buy saba in NZ?
are these the frozen ones that can be found in asian shops? And can you teach me how to cook black sago pearls? Mostly the instructions I find on packets are in chinese and I don’t understand… the last time I cooked sago was a disaster…lol.. 
thanks!
You can get them in Asian shops, its seasonal though. Its in season now that’s why I managed to grab some. On cooking the sago pearls, you just boil it in water with a pinch of salt and some sugar if you want them sweet. Once the it turns translucent, not fully there will always be that starchy bit in the middle cooking it in a state where its translucent all the way will make it mushy, you can turn it off and let it soak on the hot liquid for 30 minutes then you rinse it with cold water. Do also use the medium sized pearls as they will grow bigger and normal in size like the one you see in photo, they also cook faster
Thanks Raymund!
I’ll go and try to find some saba here in North Shore. 
If you are from North Shore then you can get it a Lim’s
This looks beyond delicious.
AHHHHH!!!! I’m craving this now!!!!
Wow, truly Pinoy… the last time i’ve tasted it was last month while in province… mom made one for us… now off to manila to have my review… i’ll surely miss ‘minatamis na saging’…haaayyy…(:
Good day.
~Kelvin
Those bananas look so good and sweet! What a unique dessert I am curious about it!
Oh, this looks so good with carmelized bananas dripping in sugars and milk. I wonder if I can find those bananas around here?
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