Plátanos y Tostones! (Wait, what? Plantains and plantains?)

[Suu]

Green or yellow...CHOOSE WISELY.

(my counter is gross, I know. Whatever the fuck it's made out of takes stains in seconds and then weeks to scrub it out.)

Fact is, they're different. Same fruit, completely different flavor, and for those that haven't actually had traditionally prepared plantains, they're actually very easy to make.

The unripened plantain is used to make the flattened salty starchy dish known as tostones. Which is very popular in the Dominican Republic and has it's place in Puerto Rican cooking as well. We'll be making this later on this evening.

When the plantain ripens, it turns yellow like a banana and the starch turns into sugar, which gives the plantain a flavor that is a bit more mellow than a traditional banana, and the bite is more firm, so it's not as mooshy and doesn't get bruised as easily.

Plátanos, or sweet yellow plantains, is the easiest of the two dishes. It's a very popular breakfast and snack food, especially in Puerto Rico.

Peel and slice your yellow plantain in an oblong fashion. Taste a raw piece. if it's TOO sweet, they may be a bit over ripe so it's important to make sure they don't get mooshy and gross in the frying process.

Throw them bitches in a small pan with oil that's pretty much ready to go on the stove.

Get them to a nice golden color and remove from the oil, add more plantains and continue.

You can blot them if you want to remove excess oil, but if you do it right they shouldn't be slimy. (I apparently don't do it right, so Mr. Suu takes control.)

Enjoy your plátanos with toast, bacon, and a cup of Cafe Bustelo coffee!

Stay tuned tonight for Tostones!

[LMNO]

If it's taking on oil, it's not hot enough.

When the hot oil touches the moisture on the surface of the food, it should create steam, which means pressure forcing it's way OUT.  if the temperature isn't high enough, the oil seeps into the food.


PS - looks AWESOME.  Dirty counter and all.

[Jenne]

YUMMY PLANTAINS!  Makes me wanna go get some!

[Suu]

If it's taking on oil, it's not hot enough.

When the hot oil touches the moisture on the surface of the food, it should create steam, which means pressure forcing it's way OUT.  if the temperature isn't high enough, the oil seeps into the food.


PS - looks AWESOME.  Dirty counter and all.

Yep, that's what Mr. Suu said, basic chemistry. I think I just get impatient and don't allow the oil to get hot enough where as he gets the pan going before he's finished peeling the things.

I just ate most of them.  

[Jenne]

If it's taking on oil, it's not hot enough.

When the hot oil touches the moisture on the surface of the food, it should create steam, which means pressure forcing it's way OUT.  if the temperature isn't high enough, the oil seeps into the food.


PS - looks AWESOME.  Dirty counter and all.

Yep, that's what Mr. Suu said, basic chemistry. I think I just get impatient and don't allow the oil to get hot enough where as he gets the pan going before he's finished peeling the things.

I just ate most of them.  

Payback for the lack of potroast leftovers?!?

[Suu]

YES! That's what I'll tell him!

"YUO ATE ALL MAH MEET SO I EAT YOUR BANANAZ!"

[Sir Squid Diddimus]

I've had plantains cooked as many ways as anyone could think of.

No matter how much I try to like them, I just don't.
I can't even figure out what it is about them that I don't like.

[LMNO]

Too starchy?  Perhaps the mouth feel/texture?

[Sir Squid Diddimus]

Something about the taste I think.
I can eat starchy stuff no prob, there's just a ....


weirdness

[Suu]

I've found that if you really like bananas, you don't like plantains. And if you don't like bananas, you really fucking WON'T like plantains.

My sister eats a banana every morning because she's prone to leg cramps (I'm talking calf-locks. The ones that make you scream in the middle of the night) and needs the potassium, but she really doesn't like plantains, raw or fried.

[Sir Squid Diddimus]

That might be it.
I really love bananas and a plantain is not a banana but it looks like one so it tricks my brain.

Like if cake tasted like mashed potatoes.

[Darth Cupcake]

That might be it.
I really love bananas and a plantain is not a banana but it looks like one so it tricks my brain.

Like if cake tasted like mashed potatoes.

Actually, someone on a baking community made meat cupcakes--meatloaf, with mashed potato "frosting." So there you go, ALL YOUR FEARS ARE MANIFEST

Also, I recall the plantains at the Memorial Day Pork Shoulder Cabal being AWESOME. I wanna try making my own sometime. For funsies.

[BADGE OF HONOR]

Meat cakes are fucking WRONG.

[Sir Squid Diddimus]

Meat cakes are fucking WRONG.

agreed

[LMNO]

: points to the cheese-filled meatloaf :

EXCUSE ME!?