English: Purplish banana flowers (Thai: hua plee ), with behind them folded banana leaves (Thai: bai kluay ), are commonly sold in Thai markets.

Thais use banana flowers raw in such dishes as yum hua plee (a spicy salad with thinly sliced uncooked banana flowers) or steamed whole as one of the ingredients eaten with the spicy Thai chilli dip called nam phrik kapi . It can also feature in soups such as tom yum or deep fried as tod mun hua plee . Steamed, the taste of the flowers is somewhat similar to that of artichokes.

Banana leaves are often used as (ecologically friendly) disposable food containers or as "plates". Steamed with dishes such as hor mok pla it imparts a subtle sweet flavour. It is often also seen used as a wrapping for grilling food and as such it contains the juices of the wrapped food and prevents the food from getting burned whilst at the same time giving off a subtle flavour.