grilled bananas on the road side

Another ubiquitous street food in Bangkok, Gluay Ping, grilled banana in palm sugar syrup. The banana used for this is called Gluay Nahm-wa, which is shorter and fatter than the regular banana you see in your supermarket. It's also common to use slightly unripe Nahm-wa bananas for this, as the ripe ones tend to fall apart after grilling. The grilled bananas are sometimes flatten slightly, and doused in a syrup made by simmering palm sugar, water, and salt.

When I was little, I loved Gluay Ping made of greener bananas than usual. Green bananas develop a taut skin that's almost caramelized on the charcoal grill. Biting into one, the almost crisp skin gave way to a melting soft and sweet interior that's enhanced by the salty and sweet syrup. Simply delicious.