This past summer, I took a trip to Miami with my husband, and we pretty much ate our way through Little Havana. Our favorite restaurant was Versailles. The food there is amazing and really authentic. One of our favorite appetizers was tostones or fried plantains. I decided to try my hand at these. They aren't very hard to make, but tostones are unique because they are fried twice. Some people like them completely starchy, but if you want them to have a hint of sweetness, wait until there are some black spots on the skin of the plantain. The darker the sweeter.
Here is what you will need:
Step 1: Cut the plantain into chunks.
Step 2: Heat the oil in the frying pan and cook the plantains for 3-5 minutes, remove, and drain the excess oil under paper towels.
Step 3: Smash the plantains under a frying pan or coffee mug (there is an actual 'tostone smasher' they sell in stores, but this works just fine).
They will look like this...
Step 4: Fry again until golden brown (3-4 minutes)
Step 5: Soak up the excess oil with paper towels.
Step 6: Sprinkle with salt and enjoy!
Complete list of ingredients:
Green plantain cut into 1-inch slices
Vegetable oil for frying
Salt
Posts
So I picked up a plantain at the store today - it's probably still not considered "ripe." Do you recommend I use it ASAP, or is it ok to wait a couple days before using it for tostones?
ReplyDeleteI actually like it better when it is slightly ripe with some dark spots, but I think the purists would say make it ASAP. I don't think you can go wrong, but my recommendation would be to wait maybe just a couple of days.
ReplyDeleteWhen you cook sweet plantains without squashing them, they are actually called "maduros", and you wait for the plantain to turn black. I found this link that explains them. I'll probably make this on my blog at some point. Delicious! http://www.thekitchn.com/thekitchn/recipe-sweet-fried-plantains-093896
wow simple but those look delicious!
ReplyDelete