Banana blossom substitutes

The same ingredient, already trimmed, blanched and packed in brine, and stocked in most Asian shops and increasingly in UK supermarkets thanks to the vegan fish and chips boom.

Best for

banana blossom fish and chips, kare-kare, curries and stews, vegan fish tacos

The canned version is softer than fresh and slightly salty from the brine, and it is much wetter, which is the one thing that ruins a batter. Drain it, squeeze each piece gently between your palms and then blot it dry on kitchen paper, or the coating slides off in the fryer. Flavour-wise it has less of the fresh blossom's astringency, which most people count as an improvement.

The best supermarket swap for the vegan fish role, because artichoke hearts pull apart into the same soft flaky layers when you press them, which is the whole illusion.

Best for

battered vegan fish and chips, vegan fish tacos and fishcakes, salads, pies and bakes

The obvious difference is flavour: artichoke tastes distinctly of artichoke, green and faintly sweet, where banana blossom tastes of very little. It is also softer, so chill the pieces in the fridge before battering and fry hot and fast at around 180C so they hold their shape. Lay a small piece of nori against each one before dipping if you want the sea flavour banana blossom recipes usually get from seaweed anyway.

Pale, tender and made of concentric layers that shred into short flakes, which makes it the closest match for the look and mouthfeel of cooked banana heart.

Best for

kilawin na puso and other cold vinegar dishes, kare-kare, vegan crab or fish cakes, salads and slaws

Hearts of palm are silkier and cleaner tasting than banana blossom, with a mild brine-sweetness and none of the tannic edge, so a kilawin made with it tastes brighter and less rustic. They break into shorter flakes than the long fibrous strands of a banana heart, and they soften quickly, so add them near the end of a stew rather than at the start.

The other big vegan shredding ingredient, and a good one here because it is genuinely neutral in flavour, which is the one thing banana blossom really is.

Best for

vegan fish and chips, stews and curries, adobo-style braises, fillings and tacos

Jackfruit shreds into longer, stringier, more meat-like threads than banana blossom's short flakes, so battered pieces look and chew more like pulled fish than a fillet. It is also faintly sweet and takes salt slowly, so season it more assertively and give it ten minutes in the pan before you use it. Be certain the can says young, green, in brine or water; jackfruit in syrup is a dessert fruit and completely wrong here.

The practical Filipino kitchen answer when there is no puso in the market: it supplies the bulk, the pale colour and something to chew on in a kare-kare or a kilawin.

Best for

kare-kare, kilawin and cold vinegar salads, vegetable stews, pancit style dishes

Cabbage is crunchier, sweeter and completely lacking the astringency banana blossom brings, so the dish tastes fresher and simpler. Salting the shreds for ten minutes and squeezing them out gets the texture closer to cooked blossom and stops them watering down the sauce. Use the dense core rather than the leafy outer parts, since the core holds its bite.

The honest answer for the dish where banana heart is one vegetable among several rather than the star.

Best for

kare-kare, pinakbet style vegetable stews, soups

Kare-kare is carried by its peanut sauce, oxtail and bagoong, and plenty of good versions never include banana heart at all. The dish comes out slightly less textured and a little sweeter without the blossom's tannic edge. This does not transfer to vegan banana blossom fish, where the blossom is the fish, so use artichoke hearts there instead.