I grew up in the countryside of Vietnam. We were poor and didn’t have much at home. But one thing I remembered was that my mom always found ways to make special treats for us at home. They were fresh homemade. I was so jealous of other kids who had money to buy snacks.

Now looking back, I am grateful for my mom.

I barely had processed snacks and processed food as a child. I was able to pick fresh fruits from mom’s garden and had mom cooking fresh desserts, cakes, candies and juices at home.

As a mom of two little kids, I am doing the same things and always looking for ways to make simple snacks with less ingredients in less time.

Today I am sharing with you one of my childhood favorite snacks.

Banana popsicles or Kem Chuoi are one of them. You can find this Kem Chuoi or banana ice-cream anywhere from street food stands to café shops in Vietnam. I haven’t found it here in the U.S. even at the Vietnamese markets. Since it is easy to make, I will make it and share the recipe with you.

This recipe has 4 simple ingredients. It is high in proteins and has good fat from coconut milk/cream. If you don’t want to give your kids popsicles that are full of color and sugar, this can be the one. It takes less than 30 minutes to make.

My kids love popsicles too. Instead of making it in a traditional way, I have done it differently to make it more fun to eat for kids.

Tips:

Before going to the details, I want to share with a couple tips.

1. Nam Wah Bananas: is the one you want to use. If you can’t find this special banana, you can use the normal bananas which I have used before.

It was okay but not my favorite.

My favorite banana to use for this is Nam Wah Banana which you can find in Asian markets like Korean, Vietnamese, and Chinese markets. Sometimes, I see Wholefood has this type of banana too at the Asian fruit section.

2. Don’t use the unripe bananas: the riper it is, the sweeter it will be. The unripe bananas give the tart taste to your popsicles unless you like raw bananas’ taste.

3. Don’t throw your blackened banana away: There are many videos on YouTube showing how to use ripe bananas. Same here, I just want to make sure that you don’t throw blackened bananas away, especially with Nam Wah bananas.

My son loves this banana because it has the combination tastes of sweet and sour, especially when it is ripest.

I remembered the first time he ate this banana. He refused to touch it because the skin was hard and had many black spots on it. I convinced him to have a bite, and then he has been loving it since then.

Nam Wah bananas last longer. When it is ripe and you don’t have time to finish it, the skins get darker and harder; however, the bananas’ meat inside are still eatable.

Find a way to use them before throwing them away.

4. Alternatives to refined sugar: I have been using different types of alternatives to replace refined sugar. I like coconut sugar and monk fruit sugar. However, the one I like the most is dried dates.

Normally, I soak dried dates in hot or warm water and blend it before using. You can use this instead of sugar in this Kem Chuoi recipe.

5. Popsicle molds: I have two different kinds of molds, silicones and reusable ones. Silicone molds are not stable. They are all connected together, which takes space in the freezer for storage. The reusable BPA-free plastic molds are steady, stand up strong.

I have the links of these two molds below for you to check them out. They both are good and easy to use. However, everyone has different taste. I like the plastic molds better. Which one do you like?

Ingredients

• Nam Wah banana: 10
• Coconut cream or milk: 2 cans of 13 oz
• Pandan leave: 5 leaves
• Sugar to taste or dried dates to taste

Instructions:

1. Bring a small pot to medium heat and pour in the coconut cream/milk with knotted pandan leaves.
2. Use sugar to taste as you wish
3. Lower the heat
4. Make sure to stir often until the coconut cream/milk boils.
5. You can mash bananas in the pot or before putting them into the pot.
6. Cook the mixture for anther 5 to 6 minutes
7. Turn off the stove and remove the pandan leaves.
8. Slowly pour the mixture into the popsicle molds.
9. Put them in the freezer and they will be ready in 30 minutes.