I love food from around the world. Has anyone noticed that yet? I love traditional food, no matter where it originates, and I think, in part, I got that from my mom and dad, who raised us with pretty multicultural palates.One dish my mom would make for us occasionally as a treat was fried plantains. Plantains are these big, thick banana like fruit that don't really taste good raw. Instead, they're cooked, typically fried, and then eaten with a variety of toppings. Fried plantains are eaten throughout Central and South America, the Caribbean, and Africa, and if I may say so, they're quite delicious!
I'd wanted to make fried plantains for my family at quite a few points in time since moving to where I live now, but I hadn't been able to find plantains being sold anywhere, no matter how much I was willing to pay. And since even in places where it is sold, it can be relatively expensive, I wanted to share with you a delicious alternative, that, in my opinion, tastes exactly like fried plantains- fried green bananas!
I've yet to see a place where bananas aren't sold, and when in season, they can be quite the cheap food. And best of all, its a gluten free, grain free starch that tastes absolutely delicious!
Fried Green Bananas Recipe and Instructions
Honestly, this recipe is so easy it almost seems laughable to share, but since it is so yummy, and isn't something that someone would necessarily think to do with their green bananas, I thought I'd share anyhow.
When I need a quick breakfast and none of the bananas are ripe, so I can't make my typical breakfast shake, I make fried green bananas. Easy and quick to make, and filling and tasty as well.
Ingredients:
Green bananas
Oil for frying (a healthy oil, of course!)
Salt or sugar for dusting (optional)
Mojo (garlic) sauce for dipping (optional- see one recipe here, or find many more varieties on google)
Instructions
1. Peel your green bananas. This may be a little hard to do as the skin doesn't separate easily from the fruit when it is not yet ripe. If you need to, use a knife to remove whatever skin remains behind.
2. Cut the bananas into thin, quarter inch slices.
3. Heat the oil in a frying pan until it is very hot. Add the banana slices, making sure they're all flat against the bottom of the pan.
4. Fry the bananas until they are a golden to medium brown on the bottom. Flip them over.
5. When both sides are golden, remove the fried bananas from the pan and let them cool down until they're cool enough to handle.
6. Serve the fried green bananas sprinkled with salt or sugar, or with the Central American/Caribbean style mojo sauce for seasoning.
Have you ever had fried green bananas or fried plantains? If not, do you think you'd be willing to try it?
When you buy bananas, do you have the patience for them to ripen, or do you also get antsy like I do when they take forever to get ripe?
It's a lot lot easier if you slice them lenghtwise. My mother would smear them with a curry paste before frying them.
ReplyDeleteYou can also boil green bananas and eat as is.
With Caribbean-style fried green plantains, first, you deep fry the slices a bit, then you smash them, and fry them some more. Smashing them lets the hot oil penetrate more inside, and you get something much more like a french fry. Much better than just frying slices of plantain. I've never tried it with green bananas, but I wonder if it wouldn't work?
ReplyDeleteWorks every time when initially dipped fried bananas pressed with a glass made bottle or rolling pin and then fried further
ReplyDelete