After reading Princess Journals’ fried banana the other day, I knew that I just had to make some myself. While I like fried banana fritters or goreng pisang, I love kuih kodok. I do not know the best way to name kuih kodok in English, but they are basically bananas all mashed up with flour, eggs, sugar, and then deep fried. They are usually round in shape but with uneven surface, hence the name kodok, meaning toad in Malay language.
If you look at my kuih kodok, they were not round in the slightest sense. Well, if anything, they were “disfigured” and came with various shapes and forms. (I like my kuih kodok slightly softer; I used lesser flour so the shapes were irregular.)
In Malaysia, pisang awak (the ones with black seeds inside the flesh) is often used for kuih kodok. According to my late grandmother, pisang awak is the best banana for deep frying. I used regular Dole bananas commonly found in food stores and they turned out fantastic nonetheless…
If you are tired of banana bread or banana cakes, try this new recipe, ala Rasa Malaysia style.
Ingredients:
3 big ripe bananas
1 1/2 cup flour
1 1/2 tablespoon sugar
1 egg
Some water
Oil for deep frying
Method:
Break the bananas (with hands) into small pieces and put them into a bowl. Add flour, egg, sugar, and some water. Use a big spoon and stir the ingredients so they are well blended.
Heat up a frying pan and add some cooking oil for deep frying. Once the oil is heated, scoop up a spoonful of batter into the frying pan. Try to “shape” the batter so it’s somewhat round. Deep fry until golden brown.
Related Posts:
- Banana Pancakes Recipe
- Cucur Udang (Prawn Fritters) Recipe
- Grilled Fish with Banana Leaf
- Fried Chicken Recipe
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{ 55 comments… read them below or add one }
Hi Rasa Malaysia: I have never heard of kuih kodok before even though I practically spent my whole life in Malaysia. Where did you learn all these stuff?
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i love banana in desserts. yummy. :D i want a *bite*
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Oh yes! We had to make these at school in the Convent *grin*, I noticed when we made it with some kind of pisang, maybe pisang awak, it would have purple swirls and stripes in it. Who knows why? But it was attractive, fragrant and I ate all of mine before I went home. Yours looks delicious, of course!
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salut
too Yummy !!!! I promise that I will test that as soon as possible! I don’t know if you like white dessert wines like Sauternes or others, but it could be a wonderful “mariage” !!! Bravo !!!
Cheers
Claude
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omg I loooooveee kuih kodok, less flour more bananas!!!
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Toadies? Hahah…Lookd delish as usual :) Like mine harder and crispier :P
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I’ve been left out in the blue as much as Ben. You mean all these years there’s been one more Malaysian delicacy I’ve yet to try? Betul-betul katak di bawah tempurung lah I! (No pun intended for those of you who read Malay.)
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Oh, I love that! Fragrant and beautiful! Yes, it does turn out well with normal bananas…
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rasa malaysia,
At first I thought it is banana fritter. Seems like this is an easy-to-make-kuih. I think this should be quite delicious too. hehe.
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Hi ! Rasa Malaysia,
In Malay it is knowned as Jemput-Jemput. The nonyas named it Kuih Kadok.
It sure looks yummy. Makes me want to make a batch too.
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kuih kadok is a popular kuih of the malays, right? i can’t say i like it but it’s just ok to me.
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im glad my pisang goreng makes u wanna make the jemput2. ;)
in msia. the roadside seller usually use too much flour and banana flavoring rather than the real banana.sigh. thts why they dont taste tht good.
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Yup Kuih Kodok! One of my favourites too! Penangites call it kuih kodok and everytime I go back to penang, I’ll definitely visit the famous pisang goreng and kuih kodok stall near the Heng Ee school.
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Did you use a kak po mold? Coz it really look like a toad in some angle :O ….*ribbit* *ribbit*
I never heard or tried this before. Only tried goreng pisang .
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This reminds me of my uni days (more accurately, nights) when we’d make this as a late-night snack after hours of studying (ahem!). :-) We’ll make them, then ‘jemput’ all the floor-mates to come share them!
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I think all asian countries have a recipe for fried banana. And I think I have tasted the pisang awak banana, too. It is actually the only banana variety that I can eat “raw”. :D
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Whan I was a kid, it took me some time to muster enough courage to eat the “toad” kueh because I really thought some bits of toad flesh was used :P
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Ben – I am lucky because my late grandmother was a master in all kinds of kuih. She was selling kuih before. So growing up, I was exposed to a lot of kuih.
BC – yeah, I think I remember you had a couple of banana recipes on your blog. :)
Msiangirl – you are so right, I almost forgot about the purple veins in pisang awak. Somehow pisang awak does taste a lot better when fried compared to others.
Claude – I do not know much about dessert wine. Will you send me a couple of bottles to go with this? :P
Sourrain – yes, less flour more bananas.
Unka – OK, less bananas more flour for you.
Kenny – head over to a Malay kuih stall ASAP and ask for them. Hehe.
Rosa – yeah, I was just testing out my Dole bananas and they turned out very well.
Kok – yes, very easy and you can make it too.
Aiyah Nyonya – thanks for telling me the Malay name. I have always known them as kuih kodok, probably because I came from a Nyonya family?
Lucia – the good ones are really good. You should try the one near Heng Gee high school.
Princess – betul ke? Flavoring? Ewww.
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atikah replied:
noooooooooooo, jemput-jemput and kuih kodok are two different things! jemput-jemput is basically flour with assorted ingredients like sliced chillies and/or sliced onions and/or anchovies. jemput-jemput is never -NEVER- with bananas. hahaha. some malay people call it cengkodok. my family call it cengkodok. i never knew why… maybe you should add some history titbits of these food? haha.
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Sasi – i Love the idea of the sprinkle of icing sugar on it :). hey try adding gula melaka chips -its like choclate chips but only gula melaka malaysian style :) My dad always makes em for us :) Am gonna ask him to do it again . YOu Kuih Kodok looks great
p.s i have my own rating system Hope you dont mind :)
whereby 5* is MAX
My rate : ****_
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Beside jemput2 or kuih kodok, we Malay also call it cekodok. Many names and yet still the same. We used to have it for breakfast or for tea times. Here in Perth, I even make it for my kiddies lunch box. They like it hard but I like mine soft. I used normal banana because we didnt have any other banana. At one time banana was so expensive here, it was like gold. Luckily now the price has gone down
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The last picture of the kuih kodok so yummy lah…..how? Now where to find kuih kodok? Have to drive out….
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Wahhhh sedapnya! I am such a fan of your blog but segan to leave message lah.
Have you tried really ripe plantains for pisang goreng and cekodok? It is like pisang raja in Msia and you should only use it when the skin is black with ripeness.
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I’ve had this one at a restaurant in Seattle and thought it was one of the most delicious desserts I’ve ever tasted. Oh, I’d love to try one of yours!
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RM, yes. most of the sellers ‘tipu’ and use flavouring. not to mention lotsa baking powder. teruk kan?
im gonna get me self some banana to make jemput2. ;)
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“Toad cakes”!!!! LOL!
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That sounds so delicious and your pictures make me want to wish I could just reach out and have a bit :)
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I love fried bananas but I’d rather have them whole than mashed up. :P Too bad you missed the outing at Saigon Bistro, we had fried bananas with ice cream flambed for dessert. :)
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its called cekodok i think. you have a variety, cekodok pisang, udang, cempedak, anything really, that tickles your fancy. they are great easy to make snacks, sweet or savoury.
i am shocked that so many malaysians have never heard of it…. sigh, this must the be coffee bean and haagen daz generation….heh heh.
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Never a fan of this. Why? Because don’t like the name ‘cekodok’ and how it usually looks like, esp when there’re black spots on them. Funny weird but true.
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It’s been some time since I last had kuih kodok. Looking at your pics makes me long to taste some.
Uneven shapes allows a larger surface area to be fried? Yep, less flour in in makes the taste better. I like it this way too.
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I don’t believe I’ve ever had this before. The only fried bananas I’ve had are pisang goreng and tostones (Puerto Rican smashed plantains that are deep fried).
But it does resemble the banana fritters I’ve had in a Thai restaurant. They are small little nuggets and are serves on the side with a big scoup of coconut ice-cream.
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Yes! The timeless Chok Kodok! Love it!
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I have never made or tasted banana fritters before but they always look so tasty. The problem is my fear of deep frying things… I’ll have to get over that one day.
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Sasi – thanks for your 4 **** rating. An honor. :)
Flower – thanks for telling me the Malay names. I learn so much from my readers…really!
WMW – did you find them? Any luck? I think the flogger get-together food is better lah.
MelayuinLondon – Jangan-lah segan, I love comments, so please leave me comments in the future. I have yet to try plantains. :)
Susan – I know, fried banana is going gourmet these days showing up on the dessert menu in top restaurants. :)
Princess – have you made your jemput jemput already? ;)
Elmo – yeah, isn’t that too funny? I mean literally.
Monika – haha. You can try making them, it’s very easy really. :)
WC – ooooh, sounds like fun at Saigon Bistro.
FBB – exactly, sigh, we are losing our most precious Malaysian kuih-muih to muffins and cup cakes. :(
Tummy – The black spots are the seeds of the pisang awak. I am the opposite, I love picking out the black seeds from the kuih kodok. LOL!
Bayi – yes, less flour is better.
Ming – correct. Fried banane dessert is going global. :)
Audrey – yes, the favorite tea time snack of our generation.
Brilynn – try a deep fryer, you will get over the phobia. ;)
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i am not good in measurements when it comes to “cups”. how many grams is it for 1 cup?
i am using your recipe as my first attempt in making kuih kodok. they are so yummy~!! =)
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If You use water with icecubes in the batter the result will be far more crispy than without – same process as for swedish waffels.
Let the icecubes melt in the mixture while wipping. Then dip in the bananas and fry.
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yum! fried banana, mmmmmmmm droooool!
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Arisa Go – You can use the measurement cup or you can just use the normal water cup as a reference. Cooking is about guestimate…I use my measurement cup for this recipe.
I am glad that your creation turned out good. :)
Lagers – thanks so much for your tip, I do not know about this ice water trick, I really appreciate it. :)
Aria – yeah, fried banana is better. I tried friend plantain yesterday and somehow it just didn’t do it for me. ;)
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hey there.i truly love your blog.correct me if im wrong,but isnt it called kuih cokodok?
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Anonymous – In Penang, we call them kuih kodok, but it seems like they are also called jemput jemput, cekodok. Hope this helps.
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I love these! We have something similar here in the Philippines called maruya. I had this in Malaysia recently but didn’t know what they were called until now. :)
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Hi Rasa Malaysia,i foudn you thru Penang Hokkien Podcast. i must tell i really love your blog and very excited abt ur recipes. I am not good at Malaysian cooking, but wth ur recepes, it helps a lot. Thank you so much, and plc continue to share more. (^-^)
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the indonesian make this banana fritter. they call it pisang goreng.
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I just made these, but I burt some. The inside was runny, but maybe that was because I only had two bananas or two much water. Any tips?
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I’d agree with the commentator who said that Americans would probably call this a banana fritter — particularly because of the mashed banana. I somehow missed this during my time in Malaysia as well, just seeing pisang goreng and roti pisang. Is it unique to Penang and northern Malaysia, maybe?
As for the name “toad cake,” that’s a bit reminiscent of the English dish toad in the hole — basically Yorkshire pudding with bits of sausage playing the role of the toads. I first came across that dish in the Roald Dahl book, Danny Champion of the World and the book and toad in the hole remain family favorites — along with Kampung Boy of course.
My favorite Malaysian sweet though is the pandan flavored pancake wrapped around coconut and gula melaka — but I can’t remember what it was called or find whether you have a recipe for it here. Anybody know what I mean?
Mat Saleh
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Never heard anyone call it Kuih Kodok before. It’s always been Cekodok or Jemput Pisang. Tastes more like banana than Pisang Goreng =)
To Mat Saleh: The ‘pandan flavored pancake’ you were mentioning is called Kuih Ketayap/Dadar.
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this is one of my fav teatime/supper snack. i call it cengkodok pisang hehe. i like it to be a liiiiitle hard and with a sprinkle of salt..ooh Yummy!
and i like the bigger type of cengkodok too where they put soda bicarb or something in it :P
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I made kuih kodok at a bbq and they were a huge success. thank you for sharing this kuih kodok recipe.
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Thanks for the recipe. I made it tonight for iftaar. My husband and I find it a bit too doughy and not sweet enough, perhaps the organic banana that I used are not that sweet in U.S. I will use less flour and add a bit more sugar if I were to make it again next time.
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Hi, the flour you use, isit all purpose flour? Does it work with cornflour?coz i currently have cornflour available and i miss pisang gorenggg!!!!!!1
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Oh my. I am very surprised this recipe can be found all over Southeast Asia. Here in the Philippines, we call these fritters “Maruya,” but we don’t mash the bananas, we slice them instead. Then we sprinkle sugar on top.
Interesting. :-)
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I tried this tonight, but the inside wasn’t soft/mushy at all! It was just like a big hunk of dough. Any ideas what went wrong?
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These look so yummy. I believe I sampled these in the basement food court of a mall in East Coast, Singapore. I cant wait to make these at home now :-)
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Can I substitute the plain flour with wholemeal flour instead?
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Rasa Malaysia replied:
Hi Joe – I am not sure what wholemeal flour is composed of, sorry I can’t advise on you this.
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Unbelievable. I love this so much but have not seen its recipe before. Thanks.
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