A1 Stuffed Banana Bread Taste Test Comparison

While wandering through our neighborhood Asian Market, I found a new treat that looked visually interesting. Knowing my sister-in-law Megan was coming to visit soon and loves all things banana, I knew I'd have to pick this up and test it out with everyone when we got together. 

It's Banana Bread! And it's yellow and shaped like a banana! Of course we have some real bananas on hand to see how much this banana bread really tastes like the real thing. 

I like the packaging for this one. Bright yellow with a big monkey on it. It almosts looks like a bunch of bananas through the plastic packaging. Labeling on the package show things like "Contains 12% Natural Banana Powder", "Half a Banana in every loaf", and "It smells so good!"

The side of the package clarifies the banana claims. 12% freeze-dried banana powder = half a banana. "Banana" refers to Tianbao tall banana. The edible portion of one Tianbao tall banana is approximately 100g, which can be made into about 14.3g of freeze-dried banana powder. 

So if my math is mathing, by weight, half a freeze dried banana is 7.15g, and compared to the 62g loaf, that's 7.15/62 = 11.53% which rounds rights up to 12%. 

Then we get to the ingredient list. Lots of ingredients here to make these shelf stable. 

Don't you love the shape! Each loaf of banana bread is yellow and curved like a real banana! 

Alli - I hope it's good!
Joe - You like banana? 

Alli - I like banana bread! 

One thing I've noticed with pre-packaged Asian food, there's a whole lot of plastic! Each loaf gets its own wrapper, plus a dessicant packet for freshness. 

With the claim of "It smells so good" how does it smell Megan? 

Megan - It kinda smells like an 85C bread. 

Let's check out the inside! 

There's a yellow "skin" plus a white creamy center, just like a real banana. Then inside that is a filling of some sort. Let's compare that to the package real quick. 

Filling seems to be oozing out of the banana on the package, and that filling is a good 75% of the inside of this banana bread. 

Maybe a little bit of artistic license used on that packaging. 

Patrick - It reminds me of Twinkies. 

Joe - Who likes banana bread? 

Megan, Patrick, Alli, Theresa - Meee!

Megan - I don't know that this is banana bread. It's banana flavored bread. 

Theresa - I like banana bread from Hawaii. 

Avery - I will not like this. 

Patrick - The banana flavor is subtle.

Ian - Very subtle.  

Joe - It smells like a roll. 

Patrick - It's fluffy!

Megan - It's not bad. It has the texture of Korean bread. 

Alli - It has banana filling and it's a Hawaiian roll. 

Joe - You're right. It's very much like a Hawaiian roll. 

Patrick - I know the filling is there, but I'm not really tasting it. 

Theresa - I smelled it, and I'm going to go with a no. 

Ian - I'm not sure whether I like that or not. 

Theresa - Mayne like a Hawaiian roll with a soft banana Runt in it. I don't like it. 

Joe - It's... unique. 

Megan - I liked it more than I thought I would like it. 

Joe - What if we set these on the counter and once they turned black we made banana bread out of them!

Patrick - Did anyone taste the 12% of banana? 

Megan - I would say it's not any more than 12%. 

Joe - It is mostly bread.  

How's the real banana?

Alli - The banana is better. 

Theresa - And cheaper! 

It's a very convenient fruit! 

Megan - It's a banana. 

Megan - I'm going to stuff a real banana inside the banana bread. 

Theresa - I still don't like bananas. 

Thumbs up on the bread from Megan, Patrick, Alli, and me. 

Megan - I wonder how it is heated up? 

Luckily we've got a microwave to see! 10 seconds. 

Megan - It's better warm. It just reminds me of 85C weirdness. It's a soft bread. 

Joe - I agree, it is better warmed up. 

Theresa - Most bread is. 

Joe - They don't even show that on the package. They could totally add "Try it warm". Just like a real banana. Go microwave a real banana Patrick. 

Patrick comes back with a microwaved banana. 

Joe - I don't prefer that real banana microwaved.

Megan - Delicious taste test! I approve!