Maruya
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Read for freeMaruya banana fritter is a common Filipino dish made with saba bananas.
The bananas are cut or fanned into thin slices, and the slices are then coated with batter and fried. Once fully fried, the fritters are then sprinkled with or rolled in white sugar and served.
As you travel throughout the Philippines, you’ll find different variations of the dish with slightly different ingredients. For example, in the Muslim regions, you’ll find latunda bananas used instead of saba bananas.
In other regions, people use potatoes and dessert bananas instead of plantains. Not to mention, you’ll hear different names for each dish variation.
The only thing that remains the same among all is the serving method. Maruya is traditionally served alone, without any side dishes. However, if you want to go a little out of the box and make the experience more enjoyable, try accompanying the fritters with ice cream or syrup-preserved jackfruit.
Maruya fritters are served and eaten on a lot of different occasions. Some like to eat it to kill their 10 am hunger, while others eat it as a small snack on their commutes. You can also request the sellers to cut the maruya in different shapes if you want.
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Origin
Though maruya fritters are said to be from the Philipines, it’s difficult to miss their similarities with banana dishes originating from Latin America and the Caribbean. It’s also very likely that this Filipino street staple might not be “entirely” Filipino at all, and perhaps, might be inspired by a Spanish dish.
Two things direct our thoughts that way. First, both regions mentioned above used to be Spanish colonies, along with the Philippines. Moreover, both regions (along with the Philippine) have foods deeply influenced by Spanish cuisine.
In this case, it becomes especially apparent when we look at dishes like tostones, a fritters dish with the same preparation method but different and spicier ingredients. To conclude, it’s possible that maruya fritters are influenced by tostones and are most likely a sweet spinoff of the dish invented by the locals.
However, since we have really little recorded history of the dish, it’s very difficult to say where exactly it came from. But it’s safe to say it has Filipino origins.
Check out our new cookbook
Bitemybun's family recipes with complete meal planner and recipe guide.
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Joost Nusselder, the founder of Bite My Bun is a content marketer, dad and loves trying out new food with Japanese food at the heart of his passion, and together with his team he's been creating in-depth blog articles since 2016 to help loyal readers with recipes and cooking tips.
