Not being able to have Coke has been tough, but bacon is what I really miss. I have been good lately, but not as good as I should be. Hence the following recipe. I made arroz con pollo, and you just can't have it without fried plantains. I guess I have to have my little indulgences or I'll go mad. There's a lot of talk about how to make great tostones, but I am just offering my family's humble contribution.
Plantains may look like bananas, and they are related, but bananas have a sweeter taste, while plantains are less sweet. Plantains require cooking in order to be edible, even when they are overripe, the sweetest stage of its life. It is a testament to the survival skills of my people that plantains have ever been considered edible. You pretty much have to be starving to try and figure out how to make these babies worth eating, because if regular bananas are around, you'd just go for those. No cooking required! Plantains have been around forever, and all over the world. Seriously, they are indigenous to Africa, Asia, North America, South America, the Pacific Islands, Australia, pretty much everywhere but Europe.
Picking plantains at the market is strange if you don't know what you are looking for. Generally, there will be very green ones, some mottled green and dark ones, some yellow ones, and if you are lucky, some soft yellow ones with lots of black spots. All of these are plantains in different stages of life, and all are good for different dishes. None of them are "bad" or spoiled.
The underripe plantain is very green. These green shades, or even the yellow in the middle, are best for tostones, or fried plantains. Pronounce it toast-own-es, not tostonz. They are salted and eaten as a side or appetizer, much like They yellow and yellow-black ones are best for platanos maduros, the sweeter fried version.
What you need to get started?
A plantain, a knife, and a paper bag.
You start by peeling the fruit, but don't expect it to be easy like with a banana. Between this and the yuca I'm starting to think that Cuban cooking is for brawny babes. I like to score the sides with a knife, all the way from stem to stem so that you can create sections in the peel. Then, start peeling. If parts of the peel won't budge, try slicing them off, but only as a last resort. This is tougher with the greener plantains. Generally the dark yellow ones are fairly soft and easy to peel.
Once you get it peeled, slice 'em up. I like to go for about one inch pieces, because I don't like the finished product to be too thin. If they are too thin, they are easy to burn and you don't get any plantain flavor.
They are too hard to smash at this point, so you have to fry them for just a little bit. I used Smart Balance canola oil, but you can use vegetable oil. I suppose you could boil them in water, but that can destroy the flavor. Fry them for a few minutes on each side. Here you see the color after frying on the middle piece. Just getting a little softness, not browning them.
After they come out of the spa, let a paper towel remove some of the excess oil.
After a couple minutes of cooling, you are ready to smash them up! This is where the paper bag comes in. There are tostone makers and all kinds of gadgets for this, but this works best for me. For some reason, paper bags are the best. They don't stick to the plantain and they are a good barrier between you and the hot little slice.
I place the slice in the middle and use a spatula to press down the plantain. I place my hand over the spatula and press slightly, until I feel that it has smashed.
This is what you want. Not too smashed so that it breaks apart, but obliterating the cylindrical shape completely.
Do this for all of them, and get ready to fry! Get the oil nice and hot again.
And stick 'em in there. Once they are browned around the edges, turn them over and make sure they get nice and brown.
Remember to let the paper towels soak the oil and salt them just a little bit. Extra tasty.
Platanos Maduros
Platanos Maduros are a lot easier. Most Cuban restaurants serve them with dishes. They are sweet and fried deliciousness. There's no smashing, no double fry, just slicing and frying. Of course, those extra dark yellow plantains are easy to peel as well. You just slice them on the bias, then place them in hot oil, browning them on both sides, then lower the heat on the oil and continue to fry them until they are dark brown and carmelized. Some people roll them in brown sugar or white sugar before frying, but we've never really done that.
Hope you enjoy these treats. Learn more about plantains here, and here.
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