What is Chuoi Chien?
Chuối chiên, or Vietnamese fried banana fritters, is one of Vietnam’s most popular street foods.
These banana fritters are typically long, golden brown with a speckled crust of black sesame seeds.
Traditionally made with short Thai bananas, known as chuối xiêm or chuối sứ in Vietnamese, the bananas are peeled, flattened, and dipped in a light rice flour batter before frying.
It’s then dipped and fried again for the ultimate crispy crust.
What You Will Need
To make Chuoi Chien or Vietnamese fried banana fritters, gather the following ingredients:
- Regular rice flour and all-purpose flour - Creates a light, crispy shell. Rice flour is the main flour to make it super crispy. A little all-purpose flour is needed to tell the rice flour to calm down.
- Baking powder - The leavening agent for a classic puffy shell.
- Granulated sugar and salt - To sweeten and season the batter.
- Roasted black sesame seeds - Adds texture and the signature look to the classic street food fried banana fritters.
- Turmeric powder (optional) - Adds a light yellow color to the batter.
- Water - The liquid needed to make the batter.
- Bananas - I’m using the long Western variety, also known as Cavendish or Chiquita bananas, which are commonly found in U.S. supermarkets. Choose bananas that are ripe but still firm so they hold their shape when flattened. You can also use short Thai bananas (chuoi xiem), but let them ripen fully until the skin is all or mostly black for best results.
- Neutral oil - I’m using vegetable oil for deep-frying.
Step 4: Batter & Fry
Carefully peel the flatten banana off the plastic bag and transfer it to the prepared batter. Repeat with remaining bananas.
Using a wide spatula (maybe even two for longer bananas), lift the battered bananas, let the excess batter drip off, then carefully place them into the hot oil. Repeat with remaining battered bananas.
Deep fry for about 7 minutes total, gently flipping and turning as needed to prevent sticking and ensure even browning.
Add a little more water to the batter if it’s too thick. The extra water will thin it out.
Add a little more rice flour to the batter if it’s too thin. The extra flour will thicken it a bit more so that it clings to the banana better when dipped.
Do I Need to Flatten the Bananas?
I recently tried this recipe again by slicing the bananas in half or into three pieces if they were too thick, without flattening them. It worked.
Flattening the bananas helps distribute the filling more evenly. More importantly, flattening make them long so they are more visually appealing when fried.
If you’re short on time, simply slicing them works just fine.
Pro Tips
Add Optional Sauce
Although it’s typically enjoyed plain, if you’d like to drizzle it with a sauce, try this coconut milk sauce.
Want Something Fancier?
Try this modern take on chuối chiên—banana wrapped in spring roll pastry, fried until crispy, then drizzled with caramel sauce and topped with toasted coconut.