I bet Kbeitz has some good memories and recipes for cooking plantains from his time in the DR. I never ate one till I started an assignment in Cameroon in west central Africa. Fried plantains were a common side dish over there and sometimes I'd get them from street vendors who cooked them in red palm oil that would likely stop up your arteries just thinking about them but they sure were good. I can't find them anywhere here except occasionally at a Wal Mart when I am near one. Our local grocery store does not carry them. The ones I do find are not nearly as good as what I got in Africa as I am sure they pick them much greener here. We had them 14"-16" long and 2.5" in diameter and always right off the stalk. In Haiti on another assignment I used to buy Plantain chips similar to banana chips off the street vendors that were pretty good too.
I found a very simple way to fix them is buy them and let them sit a week or more until the skin is nearly completely black and they are soft to the touch. With a paring knife I cut off both ends, split the skin and take the meat out and put it on a saucer. I then cut them into 1/4" thick rounds, cover with a piece of wax paper or paper towel and nuke them on high for 5 minutes. When they cool (They are very hot right out of the microwave) they are ready to eat. My wife sprinkles a little sugar and cinnamon on hers. My daughter was up this weekend with our 14 month old grandson and found she and he like them. She says she gets them from a South American cafe in Charlotte NC but did not know how to cook them so I showed her. She had me cook one for Quinn's breakfast this morning. She can get them easily there as there is a big ethnic market for them at the farmers market and grocery stores.
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Here is one I just cooked. It was sweet and very tasty. The two shown on the side are actually not yet ripe enough to cook but they should be in another couple of days.
If you have never tried one get brave and pick up one or two the next time you see them and try this method of fixing them. Be sure they are soft and don't let your wife/hubby throw them out just because they look completely black and over ripe.
I have heard of but never tried them. Are they like a banana?
The wife keeps them till they are black, then uses them to make banana bread, never tried nuking them.
They are in the banana family but I think they are sweeter and definitely have a different taste than regular bananas. When you see them on the stalk they grow like other bananas but they are much bigger. The ones we get here don't hold a candle to the ones you get in the tropics. Kind of like comparing a store ripened tomato to the vine ripened one you picked out of your garden this morning.
The meat is orange not white. The skins are tough and do not peel as easily as a regular banana. You have to cut the ends off and make a thin slice just through the skin the length of the plantain then turn it inside out. Usually when you find them on a menu they are sliced thin and fried and are very good that way but nukking them works well for me. We never tried making banana bread with them. They do have to be nearly completely black before they get soft and ready to cook.
If you find them and have the time and like to try new foods buy a couple and set them up till ripe and try them.
They also eat them a lot down in Central America. Platanos, and mayonnaise are common side dishes. The platanos were easy to get used to, but the 'helping' size of mayonnaise I just couldn't get used to, lol.
Running,
I never saw them served with a side dish especially mayo. We used to get garlic mayo with Broasted Chicken (Pressure fried in oil) in Saudi. It took a while to get used to it but was pretty good. Garlic mayo was also served with Swarma (like Gyros) all over the mid-east.
I think Plantains are common from Mexico south. They are popular in tropical Asia, N & S America, Africa, the Caribbean, etc. I'd guess any place they grow bananas they also grow and eat them.
How about our Aussie friends - Ian & Co. do you guys eat them down there where people mangle the English language and chase marsupials across the continent? :D
On a related subject in the USA, and maybe Canada too, we typically only get one kind of banana. Lately small "finger" bananas are also sometimes available. While working in Africa I saw they had 5-6 different kinds including red one, white ones (thick, very sweet and lasted longer than most), finger bananas, the ones like we have, etc.
We had plantains tonight from Don Ramons along with their Pulled Pork Mojo, yellow rice and black beans.
One of the plantains is missing from the plate. ;) They were fried perfectly and sweet. I can only describe the taste as a sweet banana. Some places don't cook them long enough and some other places over cook them into a mush. This whole plate was delish. Don Ramon (http://don-ramon.com)
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Moose,
Was that at a Caribbean cafe or what? Looks typical of what we used to get for lunch in Haiti only your plate is a lot better looking. The only way I ever ate them other than the ones I cook/nuke at home were fried or made into chips. The best ones I ever ate had a little bit of a crunchy, crispy outside with a little soft texture inside. I have tried frying them and was not as good at it as the ones I bought off the street vendors in Africa.
Yes it was Cuban Cuisine. The plate was only half of what they give you. I got the other half for tomorrow minus one plantain. ;D
I've even cut up green ones and fried them like french fries.
Thanks for the suggestion and I'm glad you like them.
In Africa some of the locals preferred green fried plantains and some thought they gave them more strength or energy or such. When I cook mine I want the sweet taste when I nuke them so I want the well ripe ones.
My best suggestion is try them both ways and see what you think. If you don't like the green ones don't fail to try the ripe ones and just say "I tried them one time and did not like them." As I mentioned, my wife likes to sprinkle a little sugar and cinnamon on hers. Not my preference but its fine for her.
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I nuked the leftovers the next day and the plantains were still delish.
had a Jamaican friend who would dip slices in egg and fry yum!!
james
James,
Do you know if he dipped the plantains in flour or batter or such after the egg dip? I thought that was why people normally did an egg dip.
Cooked one this morning, first time. Sautéed in a little butter, was real good!
Good on you! Glad you are willing to experiment. I really think they are better fried than nukked but it is a lot easier and faster to just nuke them.
cut thin ,dipped in egg, cinnamon and sugar then pan fried
You guys keep talking about dipped in egg,cinnamon and sugar and pan fried, just might have to try that. I see them things every time I grab some bananas. Have picked them up and checked them out a few times.
I've seen them at Walmart several times but never bought any to try. I think I'll pick some up next time I'm there
Make sure they are soft before cooking them. They will probably be almost completely black by that time. Let us know how they turn out for you.