What is a Dahon ng Saging?

DahonngSaging is a tagalog term for a “Banana leaf”, Dahon which means “leaf” and Saging which means “Banana”.  This is very abundant in the Philippines as we have so many plantations of bananas all over the country.  There are many kinds of banana breeds in the Philippines but there is no particular breed that is commonly used in food preparations.

The most common use of Dahon ng Saging is to wrap a food.  Mostly it is used to wrap in Suman, Bibingka, puto, putobumbong, and many more. Pinoys also like to use the Dahon ng Saging as a table cover when eating traditional foods with their hands (nakakamay).  I really like the combination of sliced kamatis (tomatoe), pritongtuyo (fried dried fish), itlognamaalat (salted egg), and of course a plain rice.

Suman sa Lihiya

I can’t resist but to have a mouthwatering feeling every time I see this photo (as a truly madly deeply pinoy, this is very delicious to me).

Aside from food preparation, there are also some helpful uses out of this leaf.  I would like to share to you one of my experiences with the DahonngSaging.  When I was studying back in High School, during rainy days, this leaf is very helpful for me. I used to put this on top of my head to cover my body from the rain and it was so amazing and helped me avoid getting sick and colds. How amazing was that!

What experiences do you have that you can share using a “DahonngSaging”? What kind of food do you eat using DahonngSaging as a plate? Please leave your comments and tell us know what good stuffs do you remember about a “DahonngSaging”.