Choconana: The Chocolate Banana Stand at the Weekend Market in Bangkok
A weekly dose of nutty history, pop culture, and recipes from Lee Zalben, aka The Peanut Butter Guy.

We've been to an Arrested Development-inspired banana stand in Austin, but traveled all the way to Thailand to investigate this one. (Alright, so maybe the trip wasn't solely on banana stand-related business.) Choconana at the weekend market in Bangkok dips frozen bananas in chocolate and peanuts to order.

This was my first time seeing a banana stand in Asia. After a few days of expanding my palate with a myriad of exotic flavors and textures, not to mention some sweat-inducing chiles, it was kind of comforting to see something I knew from home, but made with local ingredients (peanuts and bananas) by local people.
The process for making them is fairly straightforward:
Step 1: Spear a banana with a stick and freeze it for a few hours.
Step 2: Dip frozen banana in warm chocolate.
Step 3: Roll the chocolate covered banana in chopped peanuts.
Step 4: Eat!

Very fun to eat, especially when they're made to order by a real person in front of you as opposed to a robot in a factory weeks ago (though a robot making them to order would also be great). The big smile from the banana stand girl made it taste even sweeter.
Each banana was just 30 Thai baht, which at the current exchange rate, is just about a dollar. If you happen to be in Bangkok and want to visit the stand, it is in the pedestrian walkway near the entrance to Section 5.
And whether you're in Bangkok, Austin, or Anytown, USA, my theory is that everything tastes better covered in chocolate and peanuts.
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