Labouyi bannann

Ingredients

Plantain

• 3green plantains
• peeled and grated
• a little oil, for your hands
• juice of 1 lime

The pot

• 1 litrewhole milk
• or 500 ml milk and 500 ml water
• 400 mlevaporated milk
• or coconut milk
• 2cinnamon sticks
• 1star anise
• or 1 teaspoon anise seed
• a strip of lime zest
• 1/2 teaspoonsalt

To sweeten

• 100 gsugar
• or to taste
• 1 teaspoonvanilla
• a pinch of grated nutmeg

To serve

• hot in bowls or mugs
• at breakfast
• with bread

Directions

1. Cut the ends off with a knife first. Score the skin lengthways in three places. Cut through the skin but not the flesh. Rub your hands with oil before you start. The stains fade but take days to go. Grate the peeled plantains finely. Use the fine side of a box grater. Work quickly once they are peeled. Squeeze lime over it as you grate. That gives a very smooth result.
2. Pour the milk into a large heavy pot. Add the cinnamon sticks to it. Add the star anise or anise seed. Add the strip of lime zest to it. Add the measured salt to the pot. Use a pot larger than you think you need. Never walk away from a milk pot on the heat.
3. Warm the milk gently over a low heat. Bring it to a bare simmer only. Let it infuse for about ten minutes. The spices need time to give up flavour. Add the grated plantain gradually. Whisk it hard as you add it in. Those clumps never break down afterwards. Keep whisking until it is all in. Mix it with a little cold milk in a bowl.
4. Let it cook over a very low heat. Stir it constantly with a wooden spoon. Give it about twenty full minutes. Stir right into the corners each time. Do not stop stirring at any point. Leave it looser than you want it. It needs the full twenty minutes to cook out.
5. Taste a little to check for rawness. Cook it on if it still tastes raw. Stir the evaporated milk into it. Let it warm through for five minutes. It keeps without refrigeration. Add the sugar and stir it well in.
6. Let it dissolve completely into it. Add the vanilla into the pot too. Taste it and adjust the sweetness. It should be gently rather than strongly sweet. Adjust it to who is eating it. Grate fresh nutmeg over the pot. Serving it is always done piping hot.
7. Ladle it into bowls or into mugs. Thin porridge is drunk from a mug. Serve fresh bread alongside it. It keeps two days refrigerated. Stir it constantly as it reheats.

Technique

• Green plantain is essential: it is starchy rather than sweet, and grating it raw releases starch that gelatinises in the hot milk and thickens the whole pot, so no flour or thickener is added at all. Ripe plantain would give a thin sweet drink instead.
• Grated plantain clumps the moment it meets hot milk and those clumps never break down, so add it gradually while whisking hard, or slacken it first with a little cold milk into a paste that stirs in cleanly.
• Green plantain sap stains hands, boards and cloths badly and takes days to fade, so oil your hands before peeling or peel under running water; score the skin lengthways in three places and prise it off in strips, since green plantain will not peel like a ripe one.

Substitutions

• Coconut milk stands in for evaporated milk and is used by some households.
• Blending the plantain with a little water gives a smoother result than grating.

Variations

• Labouyi mayi from cornmeal and labouyi pitimi from millet are the same idea.
• Star anise and anise seed are both used for the same flavour.
• It is made thicker to spoon or thinner to drink from a mug.

History

A Haitian breakfast porridge given to children and the sick, made by grating green plantain into simmering spiced milk.

Frequently asked questions

What is Labouyi bannann?

Labouyi bannann is a breakfast from Haiti: creamy porridge of green plantain with milk, cinnamon and anise. A Haitian breakfast porridge given to children and the sick, made by grating green plantain into simmering spiced milk.

How long does Labouyi bannann take to make?

Labouyi bannann takes 20 minutes of preparation and 30 minutes of cooking. The recipe makes serves 4. It is rated easy to make.

What can I substitute in Labouyi bannann?

Yes, within limits. Coconut milk stands in for evaporated milk and is used by some households. Blending the plantain with a little water gives a smoother result than grating.

What is the most important thing to get right in Labouyi bannann?

Pour the milk into a large heavy pot. Add the cinnamon sticks to it. Add the star anise or anise seed. Add the strip of lime zest to it. Add the measured salt to the pot. Use a pot larger than you think you need. Never walk away from a milk pot on the heat.