[Basil Ransom]

Plantains





Plantains are a close relative of bananas, and have less sugar and more starch. They are typically cooked before being prepared, and are also fairly cheap, $0.75-$1 per pound, with over 500 calories per pound. It's popular in Latin, Caribbean & African cuisine. All in all, they're super easy to make - make a couple slices, throw in a steamer/rice cooker, and they're ready 20 minutes later.

How I make them:

• 1. Slice off the inedible ends, and cut two slits on opposite sides, all the way down the length of the banana. I also cut it in half as you see in the photo above.
  
  2. Put in a rice cooker steamer basket for 15 minutes of steaming if the plantains are at room temperature, 20 if they were in the fridge beforehand.
  
  3. Take out, remove peels and put in a bowl.
  
  4. Add cinnamon and butter to taste. I like to add a lot of butter, a couple tablespoons or more. You can even put a dash of vanilla extract.

You'll want to take the butter out of the fridge before you start cooking, so it thaws a bit and doesn't cool the plantain as much once you add it. Even better if you leave the butter out all the time.

You can also use coconut oil instead of butter. If you do use butter, I recommend grass-fed butter, it tastes much better.

I also just tried eating plantains with mixed berries. Very good. After you've set the rice cooker, pour some frozen berries into a bowl to thaw as the plantains are cooking. The berries will add some nice tart, sharp flavor. I find thawed frozen berries more flavorful than 'fresh' ones.

Steaming is healthier than frying, due to the Maillard reaction forming advanced glycation end products, or so I'm told. Steaming with butter added tastes good enough for me.

If you're watching your fructose (sugar basically) consumption, consider limiting yourself to one plantain a day, I do. Better to eat them with lots of protein and fat at the same time, to slow the entry of sugar into your blood and dull the glycemic effect.

Maybe the Philosopher King of the Caribbean aka Athlone McGinnis can chime in here...

[freewheeler]

Care to elaborate on the advanced glycation end-products? I've heard of them before but I'm not clear on what the negative consequences of them are or how they work. I think I've heard that they're a potential carcinogen, but unless you live in a bubble practically everything you interact with is. I just wouldn't char things until they're black or fry everything I eat. If you've got the major stuff dialed in (sleep, exercise, nutrition, stress mgmt.) or are making great progress towards doing so then I feel AGEs are fine in limited amounts, although they may not be optimal. Thanks for posting, I've been meaning to incorporate some plantains for a while.

[Hencredible Casanova]

I love plantains. Been a part of my diet for a long time. Up there with sweet potato as a great source of starch.

[Basil Ransom]

Honestly, I don't know enough about AGEs to tell you much beyond what you could discover via Google. I just know that people I trust recommend boiling or steaming your foods instead of frying them. Personally, I like plantains enough steamed, and I can walk away for half an hour or even an hour if I like. Frying requires constant supervision.

I'd love to hear from someone who does know, how big a deal it is in the grand scheme of things. For something where the Maillard reaction is more essential to getting perfect taste, like a steak, I'll sear.

[Hencredible Casanova]

I might give steaming them a try. I fry mine in low heat w/ coconut oil.

[RexImperator]

Another tip: You can also let them get super ripe (like on the border of rotten...) and they become more like a very sweet banana. Drop it into a shake after your workout.

[WestIndianArchie]

redacted

[JayMillz]

I grew up on platanos (maduros/tostones), plantain chips, plantain soup, etc.

When I was in Costa Rica, I noticed a good dish there was a candied plantain side that is similar to candied yams.

One of my favorite dishes is a ripe plantain stuffed with chopped meat w/salsa and sometimes with cheese (pictured below).

   

[Handsome Creepy Eel]

My late grandpa who was born in Chile used to make these sweet fried plantains with cinnamon. I love those, as they can be made with very, very little sugar for seasoning (the main seasoning is cinnamon and vanilla). I guess you could steam them instead of frying if you want a more healthy variant, but since it's an actual dish, not pre-processed food that you just devour a box of, I don't think it hurts eating a little sugar or fat with them:

http://www.yummly.com/recipe/Sweet-Plant...ion=1%2F23

[Basil Ransom]

(09-15-2013 01:00 PM)Handsome Creepy Eel Wrote:  

My late grandpa who was born in Chile used to make these sweet fried plantains with cinnamon. I love those, as they can be made with very, very little sugar for seasoning (the main seasoning is cinnamon and vanilla). I guess you could steam them instead of frying if you want a more healthy variant, but since it's an actual dish, not pre-processed food that you just devour a box of, I don't think it hurts eating a little sugar or fat with them:

http://www.yummly.com/recipe/Sweet-Plant...ion=1%2F23

It's already pretty sweet, especially when the peel is near black. So... putting sugar on sugar?



If you cut your sugar consumption, your palate will adjust - not only will you need less sugar in a dish to enjoy it, but you'll appreciate other flavors more. Eg, instead of feeling like berries are not sweet enough, you'll enjoy the fruity tartness.

I also get satiety from the butterfat, not from the sugar.

[Handsome Creepy Eel]

Well, ideally I'd sprinkle just vanilla powder with cinnamon on them, but vanilla rarely comes in that form. It's usually mixed with a tiny dose of white sugar, maybe 4g per serving.

I'm not advocating for sugar overdose here, I'm just pointing out that 4g is nothing to be afraid of. For comparison, an average banana has 16g of sugar, so if you're eating, say, 3 bananans (48g sugar) and then sprinkle them with one dose of vanilla (which usually comes in combination with sugar), you've just added 10% to the calorie count. 10% is nothing. Particularly when you take into account that this is not a box of fried bananas that you can just pull out devour in endless quantities, it's an actual meal you made where more bananas won't magically appear.

An excess of 20 calories has never hurt anyone.

[Aliblahba]

I don't like my platinos sweet or ripe. Learned how to make them in the DR, and for me there's only 2 ways to get them proper:


Mangu. Like mashed taters but better. The most simple of recipes and a good place to start learning how to open a platino and the ripeness.


   


http://dominicanflavor.com/side-dishes/d...mangu.html

Great food blog and has pic of all the steps. Follow and you'll be where you need to be.



Next is tostones. Takes a bit of finesse to open the planitos, as scoring with the knife can mess up the tostones.

http://www.dominicancooking.com/301-tost...tains.html

^^^Not a bad site but this one give you a MUCH better pictorial instruction:

http://dominicanflavor.com/appetizers/fr...tones.html


   

Don't worry about buying a flatener, just use the bottom of a big beer bottle.


Somewhere else this chick breaks down how to cut apart chicken for pollo frito or pollo chicharron.

After learning about tostones, I never wanted to eat another "papa frita" again. Also don't try to prepare these for later. They taste like dog turds left over, no matter how much hot sauce you or how drunk you are. Trust me.

[Hencredible Casanova]

(09-16-2013 08:30 AM)Aliblahba Wrote:  

I don't like my platinos sweet or ripe. Learned how to make them in the DR, and for me there's only 2 ways to get them proper:


Mangu. Like mashed taters but better. The most simple of recipes and a good place to start learning how to open a platino and the ripeness.





http://dominicanflavor.com/side-dishes/d...mangu.html

Ah man. Mangu is the shit! My boys and I ate that everyday in DR. Did you ever hit up that resto on the malecon for breakfast? Had views of the water. That's where we first had mangu.

[Aliblahba]

There's two restaurants on the water. Both are good but a little touristy. I just made my own or had a girl do it in the apartment. My favorite breakfast places were the ones where everything is being cooked fresh and put out behind glass. You point to what you want and they load your plate. I'd get a full plate and a smoothie for me and a girl, total cost about $4, if that.


A lot of the locals just at them boiled, or yucca. Gross.

   



   



Those pics are from the net and not exactly correct, as no DR breakfast is complete w/out aguacate.

[JayMillz]

If you find yourself in Medellin, there is a place called Urabana that sells many different types of tasty platano dishes. Below is a pic of the Oriental, which was delicious!!

   
   

[RexImperator]

Those all look quite tasty. What was the drink?

[JayMillz]

(10-03-2013 10:20 AM)RexImperator Wrote:  

Those all look quite tasty. What was the drink?

In Medellin, you can get really good fresh juices. One of my favorites was jugo de maracuyá (passion fruit), which is what is pictured. Maracuyá is very popular and you will find it in many desserts as well.

[Cincinnatus]

This thread is making me hungry. Haven't had plantains in quite a while.

Also, this thread needs thedude3737.

[Hencredible Casanova]

Today I steamed plantains for the first time as opposed to frying them as I had before. What a difference! +1 to Basilransom for the tip.

[Giovonny]

(10-06-2013 02:58 PM)Hencredible Casanova Wrote:  

Today I steamed plantains for the first time as opposed to frying them as I had before

How exactly did you steam them? In a rice cooker? In a pan with a lid?

How long did it take?

How did you season them?

Thanks

[MikeCF]

You guys ever had mofongo? That's my favorite dish and it's hard to find it done right.

It's great in Puerto Rico, of course, and there was an awesome spot in NorCal.

Havent' found a good spot in L.A. for it.

[Hencredible Casanova]

(10-06-2013 03:03 PM)Giovonny Wrote:  

(10-06-2013 02:58 PM)Hencredible Casanova Wrote:  

Today I steamed plantains for the first time as opposed to frying them as I had before

How exactly did you steam them? In a rice cooker? In a pan with a lid?

How long did it take?

How did you season them?

Thanks

I used a simple pan with a steamer insert and lid. Just like this one.



It took me about 20 minutes with low to medium heat.

I opened the lid and put a dash of vanilla extract over the plantains while they were heating up.

I'll try different things over time (i.e. berries, etc).

(10-06-2013 03:13 PM)MikeCF Wrote:  

You guys ever had mofongo? That's my favorite dish and it's hard to find it done right.

It's great in Puerto Rico, of course, and there was an awesome spot in NorCal.

Havent' found a good spot in L.A. for it.

I discovered mofongo for the first time in DR. Loved it. Never bothered to look for it or try to make it in the US but now that you've reminded me I'll look online to see how to make it.

[MikeCF]

Want.

[Aliblahba]

(10-06-2013 03:13 PM)MikeCF Wrote:  

You guys ever had mofongo? That's my favorite dish and it's hard to find it done right.

It's great in Puerto Rico, of course, and there was an awesome spot in NorCal.

Havent' found a good spot in L.A. for it.

Its something you let your date order. Real men eat mondongo

[MidniteSpecial]

I like to slice my sweet plaintains like chips. Little more thick than thin. Throw them in a hot cast iron pan with some grass fed butter and coconut oil and finish them off with a little cinnamon. Have even impressed a few Spanish broads with this combo. The taste is amazing.