Sticky miso bananas with lime and toasted rice

This dessert ticks all our flavour boxes – sweet, salty, tangy and umami – and all our texture boxes – sticky, crunchy and creamy. The bananas you use should have almost completely yellow skin, with only the tiniest bit of brown spotting

Serves 4
Cook time: 20 minutes

• 40g unsalted butter
• 70g light soft brown sugar
• ½ tsp ground star anise
• 3 tbsp crème fraîche
• 1½ tbsp white miso
• 4 medium bananas (medium
• ripe), peeled and halved
• lengthways
• 1 lime: finely grate the zest
• to get 1 tsp and then juice
• to get 1½ tsp
  
• TOASTED RICE TOPPING
• 1 tbsp Thai sticky rice
• (raw), or jasmine rice
• 2 tsp black sesame seeds
• ½ tsp ground star anise
  
  1. Set the oven to its highest
  grill setting.
  
  2. Make the topping. Toast the
  rice in a small frying pan on a
  medium heat for 12–15 minutes,
  shaking the pan from time to
  time, until deeply golden. Blitz
  in a spice or coffee grinder until
  fine, then transfer to a small bowl.
  Return the pan to a medium-high
  heat and add the sesame seeds.
  Toast for 1 minute, then stir into
  the rice bowl along with the star
  anise. Set aside.
  
  3. Put the butter, sugar, star anise
  and half the crème fraîche into a
  large, ovenproof cast-iron pan (or
  a large sauté pan) on a medium
  heat. Stir the mixture frequently,
  until the butter has melted and
  the sugar has dissolved, then, off
  the heat, whisk in the miso until
  smooth. Add the bananas, cut
  side up, using a spoon to coat the
  tops with some of the caramel,
  then transfer to the oven and grill
  for about 8 minutes (this will vary,
  depending on your grill, so check
  them at the 7-minute mark), or
  until the bananas have softened
  and are lightly browned.
  
  4. While the bananas are grilling,
  mix the remaining crème fraîche
  with the lime juice. When ready,
  spoon this all over the bananas,
  then sprinkle with the lime zest
  and a tablespoon of the rice
  topping. Serve immediately and
  directly from the pan, with the
  extra rice topping alongside

This recipe is extracted from Ottolenghi Test Kitchen: Shelf Love by Noor Murad and Yotam Ottolenghi (Ebury Press, £25)