In my last post about Chocolate Haupia Pie, I promised more recipes for the pie making season.

Today’s pie of choice is another pie for the warm weather months of summer; it’s a pie that’s bursting with fresh tropical tastes and the tangy flavor of tropical fruits: the Banana Guava Pie.

As the name of the pie implies, the pie itself has two main ingredients: bananas and guava.

Guava is a fruit that can be found all throughout the world, in virtually any tropical climate, including the islands of Polynesia. It grows so easily and in such abundance in the Hawaiian islands, in fact, that farmers of other crops consider it to be a weed! If only dandelions tasted as good!

The fruit grows on trees and is usually about the size of a large pear when it’s fully ripe. The inside is soft, pink, and incredibly sweet, but not sweet in the acidic, citrous-like way of a grapefruit or an orange. Instead, it’s more delicate sweetness is more akin to a perfectly ripe peach or nectarine that will have you constantly returning for more once you’ve had just one.

Most people are familiar with bananas, the other main ingredient in this pie. It should be no surprise that bananas also grow in tropical climates and can be easily found in Hawaii and other Polynesian islands.

What many people don’t know, however, is that bananas were a staple in the diet of nearly all Polynesians before contact with the West. Even fewer people are aware of just how many different varieties of banana there are! According to an online Hawaiian encyclopedia, before Western contact in 1778, “Hawaiians had cultivated up to 70 different kinds of bananas.” If you’re looking to spice up your life with the flavor of Polynesia, bananas are a safe bet.

By adding these two fruits together with a handful of other ingredients, you could be enjoying a tropical pie with your friends in no time. Here’s all you’ll need:

 1½ cups of sliced banana
1¼ cups guava nectar
½ cup of sugar
1 tablespoon of lemon juice
¼ teaspoon of salt
3 tablespoons cornstarch
3 tablespoons cold water
1 baked pie shell

Directions:

1. In a medium pan, bring guava nectar, lemon juice, sugar, and salt to a boil over low heat.
2. In a medium bowl, mix cornstarch and water into a smooth paste.
3. Add your newly made paste to the pan containing the guava mixture and stir until thickened and clear.
4. Remove from heat and let cool.
5. Once cooled, combine with sliced banana and poor into baked pie shell.
6. Serve with whipped cream, and enjoy!

To find the original recipe, look here: Polynesian Cultural Center Banana Guava Pie

Aside from being delicious and being the perfect ingredients for a pie, guava and bananas are two fruits that are absolutely teaming with health benefits. Both have been shown to help balance and reduce blood pressure, and other benefits from one or the other include improved vision, healthier skin, and increased energy!

 

For a more complete list of the benefits of each of these fruits, check the links below. Once again, a warm mahalo for reading. Have a great day.

 

Ten Reasons to Eat A Banana A Day
10 Health Benefits of Guavas

Peter

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Author Bio

I’m Peter. I grew up in Seattle, but have been living in Hawaii and Japan for the last 4 years.

I love traveling; I love learning about different cultures; I love food, and I love my wife.

We’re hoping to go to Korea next year, and graduate school the year after that.

My life’s the best kind of dream, the one you don’t have to wake up from.

 

Sources

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DZNLaj9PA4Q/TY8Rtl7BtsI/AAAAAAAACjo/F5-jB8WN5Dg/s400/fj%2Bguava%2Bpie.jpg

http://www.gallafoods.com/images/guava.PNG

http://www.alrahalah.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/6129356164_fcc432dcf1_b.jpg

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-c38Lzq16Cmo/UJ0x9X3U5cI/AAAAAAAAEC0/FEHz8MSaJ04/s1600/banana.jpeg