Ginataang Kamote

the Filipino merienda classic: cubes of kamote and slices of saba banana simmered in sweetened coconut milk with pandan leaf until the broth is fragrant, creamy, and gently sweet — a warm snack that belongs to the mid-afternoon and the rainy-day kitchen

Origin: Manila and the Philippine Archipelago

From the journey of Sweet Potato.

Ginataan (from gata, coconut milk) is the category of Filipino dishes cooked in coconut milk; the word describes a cooking method as much as a specific dish, and it encompasses everything from savoury fish and pork preparations to the family of sweet merienda snacks that are among the most universally beloved dishes in the Filipino home kitchen. Ginataang kamote belongs to the sweet end of the spectrum, alongside ginataang bilo-bilo (glutinous rice balls) and ginataang mais (corn in coconut milk), all of which are gathered under the informal category of ginataan as a warm dessert or snack. The kamote (sweet potato) arrived in the Philippines with the Manila Galleon trade from New Spain around 1565, and the Nahuatl word camotli travelled with it as kamote. It was immediately and enthusiastically adopted across the archipelago, becoming a staple of the rural diet and a significant crop throughout Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. In the street food tradition, it appears as kamote cue (caramelised sweet potato on a bamboo skewer); in the home kitchen, as ginataang kamote, where it is paired with the saba banana (a squat, starchy cooking banana used across Southeast Asia) and perfumed with pandan leaf. Pandan (Pandanus amaryllifolius) is the flavouring that makes ginataang kamote unmistakably Filipino and Southeast Asian: its vanilla-coconut fragrance, released by bruising a leaf and tying it into a loose knot before adding it to the simmering coconut milk, is one of the most distinctive and beautiful aromatics in Asian cooking.

Ingredients

  • 500 g orange-fleshed sweet potato (kamote), peeled and cut into 3 cm cubes
  • 3 saba bananas (or 2 ripe plantains), peeled, each cut into 3–4 chunks
  • 400 ml full-fat coconut milk (1 tin)
  • 400 ml water
  • 80 g white sugar, or to taste
  • 2 pandan leaves, bruised and tied in a knot
  • 1 pinch fine salt

Method

  1. Combine the coconut milk, water, sugar, pandan leaves, and salt in a medium saucepan. Stir over medium heat until the sugar dissolves. Bring to a gentle simmer.
  2. Add the sweet potato cubes. Simmer gently, stirring occasionally, for 15 minutes until the sweet potato is almost tender when pierced with the tip of a knife.
  3. Add the saba banana chunks. Continue to simmer for a further 8–10 minutes until both the sweet potato and banana are completely tender, the banana has released its starch into the broth slightly thickening it, and the pandan fragrance is pronounced throughout.
  4. Remove and discard the pandan knot. Taste and add more sugar if needed. Serve warm in deep bowls or cups as a merienda (afternoon snack) or dessert.

Notes

Pandan leaves are available fresh from Southeast Asian grocery shops and increasingly from many Asian supermarkets. Frozen pandan leaves are an acceptable substitute. If pandan is not available, a few drops of pandan extract will approximate the flavour, though the real leaf is far superior. Saba bananas are available from Filipino and Southeast Asian grocery shops; Cardaba or burro bananas are similar alternatives. Regular ripe banana will disintegrate and should be avoided. The dish is naturally vegan and gluten-free.

The Gastrographer

The Gastrographer

Mapping Culinary History

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Journey Point Map Key

Ingredient originTrade or transit route
Became a culinary stapleColonial / trade control
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