Banana Leaves

photo credit: gourmetsleuth

What are Banana Leaves?

Banana leaves are the leaves from the same banana plants on which the common fruit is grown. The leaves are used for wrapping foods such as meat (pork) or even tamales. Also note, the leaves are NOT eaten, just used to bundle foods.

Where To Buy Banana Leaves

Banana leaves can sometimes found fresh in Asian or Mexican markets but commonly found frozen. You can also purchase them online at Amazon.com: Banana Leaves Hoja De Platano.

Substitute for Banana Leaves

Fresh corn husks, parchment paper. Depending on the recipe you can use dried (soaked) bamboo leaves OR dried (soaked) corn husks.

Equivalents

1 - 1lb frozen package = 4-5 large leaves per package, roughly 7.5 lineal feet

Food Wrappers

Favorite Banana Leaves Recipes

Oaxacan Pumpkin Tamales
Oaxacan Pumpkin Tamales (Tamales Miahuatecos) are a savory pumpkin tamale recipe with a filling of black beans flavored with pasilla de oaxaca chiles, anise and garlic. Makes 12 tamales
Nacatamales
A version found in Nicaragua, and El Salvador combines an interesting variety of ingredients including, raisins, capers, and green olives. The meat used in the recipe may be pork or chicken and sometimes a combination of both.

Related Recipes

Tacos!

Eat them for breakfast, lunch, dinner or at snack time. In Mexico, tacos are simply a wrapper, usually corn but sometimes a flour tortilla, wrapped around small bits of food, often meats, topped with fresh onion, cilantro and a little sauce Learn all about Mexican tacos including taco history, 7 traditional taco styles and basic ingredients. More

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