Types of Baby Bananas

Lady Finger and Manzana Banana Plants

• The lady finger baby banana is 1 inch wide and three or 4 inches long. It has light yellow skin and soft fruit. The lady finger plant, however, is a normal size and can grow up to 16 feet in height.

  The second type of baby banana, the manzana, looks like the lady finger variety in both its fruit and its plant. The difference is that the manzana has an aftertaste which is like an apple.

Growing Baby Bananas in Thailand

• In Thailand baby bananas are called psiang mas in the Malay language or kluai kai or gluay ky in the Thai language. The baby bananas can be fried or boiled in coconut milk as well as eaten raw. The gluay ky bananas are short, round and shaped like eggs. In fact, their name, "ky", means "egg" in Thai.

Bananas Got Their Name from Arabic

• Bananas were grown in Africa and Southeast Asia for hundreds of years. When early Arab traders discovered them and began importing them during their trading expeditions, they gave them the name "banan," which means "finger" in Arabic. This indicates that these were baby bananas, rather than the long ones most people are accustomed to in modern times.

Thailand's Baby Banana Festival

• Baby bananas are grown in Thailand and exported to Singapore. They are so popular and well-loved in Thailand that every September at the time of the full moon, Thailand's Kamphaengphet province has a baby banana contest during its annual fair.