I was in high school when I first learned to cook guinataang puso ng saging. I remember my father advising that I choose the puso ng saging that was long, cream-colored and no more than three inches in diameter at the thickest part. Why that was preferable over the more common fat reddish and fat puso ng saging, I never asked, although I suspected it had something to do with the numerous varieties of banana available in the Philippines. One time years later, when I was obliged to use the non-preferred variety, I realized that the long cream-colored puso ng saging was more tender and required a shorter cooking time.