Posted by: tim
on Feb 12, 2010
Recipe: Tostones (Twice-Fried Green Plantains)
On a recent outing to Food Zone I could not resist the green plantains, and despite the fact that they’re heavy and bulky and came all the way from Ecuador, it only cost me two bucks to take home eight of them. When I tasted my own homemade tostones I thought for a second that I never needed to eat French fries again. I mean, what’s not to love? They have that comfortable starchiness of potatoes and that mineral richness of bananas. Besides, I’ve never met a potato that would ripen if you left it sitting around long enough.
• 4 Green Plantain Bananas (1 per person as an appetizer)
• Oil for deep frying (canola, safflower, peanut, etc)
• Salt
Peel the plantains. This can be a little tricky. You need to score them lengthwise with a sharp knife and pry your fingers underneath along the cut to loosen the skin. Once peeled, cut them into one inch sections, or about 8 pieces per banana. Heat your oil up good and hot and drop in the banana pieces. Fry until golden, no need for too much precision, about 5 minutes. Lift them out with a slotted spoon or frying sieve and drain on paper towels. Allow to cool for a few minutes, and then gently smash them. A rolling pin, wine bottle or wooden spatula does the trick nicely. (Of course they sell a specific tool for this at Food Zone.) They should end up about ¼- ½ inch thick. Heat the oil back up really hot and toss in the flattened disks. Fry another 3-5 minutes until golden-brown and crispy. Lift them out and again drain them on paper towels (a paper grocery bag does the trick for a large batch rather nicely). Toss with salt and serve as is or with your favorite dipping sauce.
