Banana juice .

Wow!! the title of the post is strange. I have a book of drink recipes from Tahiti. A large number of the drinks call for banana juice. I live in Michigan and have looked every place including health food stores for the stuff and have found nothing. Anyone have a recipe for making banana juice at home? I know some folks will have fun with this one but this is a serious "Ingredient Alert". Cocktails are going unmade as this is being posted. Thanks.

I believe I've seen this in markets that specialize in Southeast Asian foods or any well-stocked Asian market. You might also try Filipino markets as well.

That IS interesting. I've put bananas through my juicer before, but it becomes a puree, the tiny black seeds get stuck in the filter screen and are a bitch to remove. The puree is fantastic, though, but it would be hard to think of calling it juice. I wonder if you could get the juice out of the puree using nylon filter bags.

I don't have much in the way of ethnic markets around here so I think the homemade juice will have to do. I thought about using a juicer as well but the puree would be the result. maybe as you say, filter the puree for it's juice. I'm thinking that the juice may also have light simple syrup added. But I'm really stumped on this one.

Bananas are disgusting! In any form!

I don't have a recipe for this product, but I'm pretty certain it's not real easy to make at home. One of the reasons is that bananas oxidize very quickly, so some kind of preservative is needed to impede that process. That's why you'll see banana orange juice or other fruit combination juice blends that have high acidity to help preserve the banana.

I've seen banana juice recipes that are essentially bananas, dates and milk that are blended together, but I seriously doubt this is the same thing. For one thing, dairy products are not commonly consumed in most Asian and Polynesian cultures. I'm thinking its possibly dried and powdered bananas that are reconstituted with water and strained. Just a guess.

You can't really juice a banana. Puree is the best you can hope for and that is essentially what all the commercially available banana "juices" that I have seen are.

If you have a large liquor store somewhere near you, look for Finest Call banana puree. That is the closest to commercially available banana juice that you are going to find. High end grocery stores may also have Looza Banana Nectar. Looza is a Belgian brand that I get here in some grocery stores (Bristol Farms, Whole Foods, Pavilions, Gelsons, How's). If you have a similar type of store in Michigan you might find the Looza there and it is a little better than the Finest Call.

Otherwise, put some overripe bananas in a blender with some water and a little lemon juice (to retard oxidation) and puree your own. But you can't juice a banana.

Here's an interesting link that briefly goes into how commercial banana juice is made and extracted. Sounds like a pain in the a$$ and has some funky ingredients in it to boot.

http://www.asiafoodjournal.com/article-2541-bananajuicenowareality-Asia.html

There's heaps of it here in Northern California. The brand name eludes me at the moment but it starts with a "L." Wow! A lot of help I've been. :D Doesn't Kerns make a banana nectar?

Anyhow.....what's the recipe?

Edit: PiPhiRho answered it: Looza! Ooops. So much for reading comprehension.

[ Edited by: jingleheimerschmidt 2009-08-26 14:19 ]

Kerns makes Banana Pineapple nectar, but not banana on its own.

If you don't mind the pineapple coming along for the ride, then Kerns is a good way to go, too, and may be easier to find.

From my very limited experimentation to date.....

two very ripe bananas (the skin needs to be very spotted and the fruit very soft).
1/2 to 3/4 cups of water (depends on the size of your bananas) (insert your own punchline)
Juice of half a Lemon (about an ounce)
2 ounce White Rum or Vodka.
Blend on high

It should be about the consistency of warm honey or maple syrup, add water if it is still to thick to pour easily.

Use quickly for best visual effect. Even with the vodka and lemon it still browns in about an hour or so.

Banana is not high on my list of ingredients for drinks outside of breakfast smoothies. But Rum is high on my list of breakfast ingredients so I may have to go and do some more research.

In other words,your mileage may vary.

Try a hit mango juice but not banana...so impossible how to make banana a juice. So difficult ...how to make it juice.

Believe it or not, W - LL M - RT (buy a vowel from Pat), has something called banana nectar in the 'ethnic' section, just down the row from the tortillas. Not sure of the manufacturer, but it's not the Looza brand.

These guys have Looza Banana Nectar (2-1ltr bottles for ~$8) available online:

http://shop.vendio.com/worldeats/item/896452542/?s=1254902162

I can vouch for the Looza line of juices/nectars; they are great to mix with.

Has anyone tried to do a bannananana infusion, with vodka or rum?
It might be icky, but maybe not!

WOW !!!! Thanks for all of your help on this one. Definitely not your average ingredient.

I have a recipe for Banana Liqueur that I would make if I like bananas more.

2 med. bananas ( bright yellow peel no discolored areas)
1 teas. vanilla extract
3 cups vodka
1 cup sugar syrup.
Mash peeled bananas add to vodka, cooled sugar syrup, and vanilla. Shake gently and let sit 1 week. Strain and filter. Let sit longer for aditioanl flavoring, but may be used now. Experiment with cinnamon or nutmeg.
As I stated I have not got around to trying this recipe .