News Green bananas sold as vegetables

[thomas]

Tokyo-based Dole Japan Inc. has found a nifty way of selling their green bananas by branding them as vegetables, proposing to use them in curries and miso soup. Dole produces 500,000 metric tons of bananas annually in the Philippines. They are imported while still green and then ripened before being placed on store shelves. Previously, the green ones Tokyo-based Dole Japan Inc. has been selling since the end of August would have been discarded by producers due to damage, their size or other reasons. Twenty thousand tons of "off-spec product" green bananas are disposed of in local landfills.

Photo credit: Mainichi/Ayane Matsuyama​

Green bananas differ from yellow ones in taste and how they are eaten. They are prepared for eating by cutting off both ends, soaking them in water, wrapping in plastic wrap, microwaving them for 2 to 3 minutes, and then removing their peels. They are not as sweet or aromatic as yellow bananas and have a texture similar to that of potatoes. Over time, they gradually ripen and become sweeter, becoming edible as-is. [...] To solve the issue [of waste], the company launched the "Mottainai Banana" project in 2021, aiming for zero waste by 2025. It has been working with other businesses to utilize these bananas in processed foods such as juice and puree, but its goal has not yet been achieved. Looking to expand consumption further, Dole decided to sell green bananas in Japan, noting they are eaten like vegetables in the regions where they are grown.

New type of veggie? Green bananas hit Japan store shelves, useful in curry, miso soup - The Mainichi

TOKYO -- A major fruit company is selling not-yet-ripe green bananas at Japan supermarkets, proposing their use like a vegetable in curries and miso s

mainichi.jp

 

[mdchachi]

From the description, it sounds like plantains.