Blue Java Bananas That Apparently Taste Like Vanilla Ice Cream Exist In Southeast Asia
They can be found in the Philippines.
By Tiffany Tay
Take a look at these pictures. How many species of bananas can you identify at first glance?
These are the more common types of bananas found in local markets, and have probably sat in your fruit basket now and again.
Now, imagine walking into your nearest fruit stall to pick up a new bunch of bananas...
... and seeing these hanging there:
Would you think they are real?
Meet these blue beauties. Known as Blue Java bananas, their striking appearance will make you question whether they're real, or a hoax.
While most of us are familiar with our local yellow bananas, the peel of this blue banana species has a slight blue hue.
Are they naturally blue?
Before they ripen, Blue Java bananas have an unusual silvery blue or blue-green peel due to their natural wax coating. However, this blue tinge fades slowly as they mature, and becomes a pale yellow.
Meanwhile, their flesh turns into a creamy white colour.
Where are they grown?
The Blue Java banana is a rare hybrid of Musa acuminata and Musa balbisiana, and is known to survive cold climates as low as -7°C.
They are mainly cultivated in Hawaii and some parts of Southeast Asia and Central America since the 1920s. This banana species goes by the name 'Hawaiian banana' in Fiji, 'Krie' in the Philippines, and 'Cenizo' in certain parts of Central America.
Fun fact: They are said to have the taste and consistency of vanilla ice cream or custard
According to this Twitter user and HuffPost, the taste of this banana is comparable to vanilla ice cream.
Blue Java bananas have natural compounds in their soft and creamy flesh, giving them a distinct flavour that has hints of vanilla. Hence, they are called 'ice cream bananas' in Hawaii, and are among the tastiest varieties of bananas in the world.
However, not everyone agrees that the Blue Java banana tastes like vanilla ice cream
Someone tasted the banana in a YouTube video, and his review makes it seem like the Internet has grossly exaggerated the claims about this unusual blue fruit.
At least pisang merah has red skin that stays red
Just like other bananas, the flesh of the red banana is a normal yellow colour.
On the other hand, there's a photo of a completely blue banana circulating the Internet, and we're going bananas trying to figure it out.
Guess you'll have to actually see and taste it to believe it!
