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Green cooking bananas (matoke)

Vegetables · Fruiting vegetables

Green cooking bananas (matoke)

Unripe cooking bananas (matoke) peeled and steamed, boiled or mashed as a starchy staple.

Also called: matoke, matooke, green bananas, cooking bananas, ndizi, ibitoke, East African highland bananas

Around the world: ndizi mbichi (sw) · matooke (lg) · ibitoke (rw)

3 recipes with it

Photo: Gail Frederick, via Wikimedia Commons (CC-BY-2.0)

What it is

Green cooking bananas are starchy East African highland bananas and similar types picked unripe. They are smaller than plantains, with hard green skin and pale, firm flesh. Matoke is steamed in banana leaves and mashed in Uganda; in the Caribbean green figs are boiled. Sweet bananas are a different, dessert type.

Musa (AAA East African Highland group)

How it’s used

  • Steamed and mashed as matoke
  • Simmered in stews with meat or beans
  • Boiled as a side (green fig)
  • Fried into chips

Characteristics

Taste
Starchy and neutral, potato-like.
Texture
Firm when raw; soft and dense when cooked.
When cooked
The sap stains hands and darkens on contact with air; oil hands and keep peeled pieces in water.
Sold as
fresh
Cooking uses
Commonly cooked, Suitable for boiling, Suitable for frying

Storage

At room temperature. Keep at room temperature and use while green; they slowly ripen and sweeten.

Diet, allergens and safety

No major allergens in typical versions.

  • Vegetarian
  • Vegan
  • Dairy-free
  • Egg-free
  • Gluten-free
  • Nut-free
  • Soy-free
  • Caffeine-free

Nutrition per 100 g

Energy
152 kcal
Protein
1.25 g
Carbohydrate
36.66 g
Fat
0.07 g
Fibre
2.2 g
Sugars
2.29 g

USDA FoodData Central: Plantains, green, raw (a close stand-in).

Substitutes

Optional — what works if you don’t have it, and how it changes the dish.

  • Plantain — Green plantains; slightly firmer.
  • Potato — In stews; softer and less starchy.

Related ingredients

Recipes with green cooking bananas (matoke)

More fruiting vegetables