Banana Plantin

[bjorkiste]

:antlers: Hi everybody !!!
I'm looking for receipt to prepare banane plantin like cuban way. But, I don't want them crusty like a chips .. I prefere warm banana .. do I have to fried it .. It don't seems to be boil.. and as I remember .. it was.. salty and sweety !!!
Thank you ! :sunny:

[mellisas]

my friends in cuba boil the plantains first....then cut into thick rings and squash them a bit flatter...and fry....some dip then in water first...so they splatter heaps...others coati n flour..l prefer corn flour..as it gives then a nice coating...

[bjorkiste]

Boil ... how many time ???:chef:

[mellisas]

cut into 1 nch pieces.... boil for 3 to 4 mins..... till soft enough to squash...but not falling apart.....

[bjorkiste]

Do I have to put salt or sugar during the frying.. to have more taste .. or I let them like this ?

[gammanine]

I will try the boil first technique sometime.
I usually just cut the slices about half an inch thick, then fry till slightly brown, then remove from the oil. then I smash them a bit and return them to the hot oil till they are nice a browned all over. Care has to be taken to not put to many in the oil at once so the temp doesnt drop to much..otherwise they get too soggy. Salt to taste when taken out and eaten hot but carefully at first.... Yum....

[lurker501]

I will try the boil first technique sometime.
I usually just cut the slices about half an inch thick, then fry till slightly brown, then remove from the oil. then I smash them a bit and return them to the hot oil till they are nice a browned all over. Care has to be taken to not put to many in the oil at once so the temp doesnt drop to much..otherwise they get too soggy. Salt to taste when taken out and eaten hot but carefully at first.... Yum....


Hi everyone, I'm new here and thought I would contribute.

The way you described is exactly how my mother and grandmother used to make them. They usually used a brown paper shopping bag that they split open to mash the partially fried plantain before the final frying. Also the plantain must be green. If they're yellow, you won't get very good tostones.

Tostones have always been my favorate Cuban snack. I never liked platanos maduros.

[AgonzCUB1025]

Ohhh man now I want to eat some tostones.... I might have to get mom to make me some next time I go home.... We had several Banana and Platain trees in the backyard in Cuba...



Alex

[Rose]

Do I have to put salt or sugar during the frying.. to have more taste .. or I let them like this ?


Sugar?? Nooooooooooo!!!!! Salt, yes, after the frying, once you get them all in a plate to serve!

[dawgylicious]

I don't know about the Cuban way but the African and West-Indian way is to slice the ripe plantines and fry in hot vegitable oil. If you want sprinkle with some salt first. Make sure the oil heats up first and turn over once it's fried. If you are going to boil it, it's better boiled in the skin. Slice off the ends and the cut plantin in half.

It goes well on its own but I love with rice and peas or with some spicy snapper fish :)

[U.K.Conguero]

Jamaican style is never to boil, just shallow fry 1/2 inch slices.. Put them on absorbant kitchen paper and salt liberally.

[dawgylicious]

Jamaican style is never to boil,

Said who? They boil and fry plaintains in Jamaica.

[U.K.Conguero]

O.k, if you must be pedantic... Jamaican style is generally recognized that we don't boil if frying..

[bruja_reina]

O.k, if you must be pedantic... Jamaican style is generally recognized that we don't boil if frying..

true, generally jamaican cooking is not fried if boiled, also in trinidad& tobago... or this is my experience :) either way... yummy!

[Rose]

true, generally jamaican cooking is not fried if boiled, also in trinidad& tobago... or this is my experience :) either way... yummy!

Well, dawgylicious, maybe in Grenada you call it "Jamaican style"...

[Yucca]

What a bunch of horse sheeet. I think the OP is reffering to the sweet plantains if so...

Make sure the plantain is ripe...almost black. They are hard to handle but just cut them diagnoly abouy one inch thick and fry.

Tostones....must me green plantains. Cut them circular about one inch thick. Fry until it starts to turn a little brown. Take them out and mash them down then fry again until done.

Forget the salt.....try getting a lot of lemon juice with plenty of finely choped garlic....Mojito style.

I have NEVER heard of BOILING unless you were making Fu-Fu de Platanos.

[mellisas]

l think the boiling part is my fault...a friend of mine in havana does boil the plantain for a little while first...l think this cuts down on the oil content...most awfully sorry for the confusion..http://www.cubamania.com/cuba/images/icons/icon12.gif

'fu fu'...yum ..grew up on the stuff in nigeria...love that gluey mess...hehehehehe

[Rose]

'fu fu'...yum ..grew up on the stuff in nigeria...love that gluey mess...hehehehehe



Funny, I just found this, about the possible origin of the name of the dish "fufú":

El fufú de plátano es un riquísimo plato cubano. Es, basicamente, plátano “macho” machacado y mezclado con chicharrones de puerco. Muchos cubanos lo comen, pero no todos saben el origen de esta palabra.
Según Fernando Ortiz, el gran investigador del folclore cubano, durante la dominación inglesa en Cuba, después de la toma de La Habana, entraron en Cuba muchos esclavos negros llevados por los ingleses.
La comida que normalmente se daba a los esclavos era plátano hervido y machacado y se cree que esta forma de comer el plátano venía de Ghana y Sierra Leona. Los negreros ingleses acostumbraban a decir “food, food”, cuando repartían las raciones a los negros y de ahí que los esclavos usaran la palabra “fufú” para designar dicha comida.
Este plato se conoce también en el Caribe como machuquillo, matajíbaro, mofongo (en Puerto Rico) y mangú (en República Dominicana).

[mellisas]

fufu can also be made out of cassava...they have some great fufu dishes in baracoa....

[Rose]

You mean Yuca?? And is also called fufú in Baracoa? Interesting!

[mellisas]

ya right rose yuca is like cassava..and it is called fufu in baracoa..was cooked for us by a guy who worked at the castillo...

the food in baracoa is very different ....they do a yummy fish dish cooked in coconut milk..carn't remeber what it is called though..

[Rose]

Great article on the matter!

http://www.fixitshop.com/gaucho/espera1.htm

[Peter Perez]

my friends in cuba boil the plantains first....then cut into thick rings and squash them a bit flatter...and fry....some dip then in water first...so they splatter heaps...others coati n flour..l prefer corn flour..as it gives then a nice coating...

No no, your doing it wrong, tostones as they are called, are green plantains which are cut in thick rings 2" or so, then they are fried slowy until they acquire a golden color, then you take them out and stump on them by using a paper or paper towell, I use a clever to smash them with the side of it.
then you fried them again until a deeper golden color and presto !

If you boil them you spoil them, because they will break up when you smash them

[Peter Perez]

You mean Yuca?? And is also called fufú in Baracoa? Interesting!

Wrong, Fufu is always plantains boild and mashed like mash potatoes, adding a little pork oil or lard and chicharrones(pork rines)

Then yuca can be boiled by peeling it first, remember the peal is poisonous, then you can add olive oil and salt as a side dish.

Casabe, can be made by fine grinding the casava root, then it is kneaded and made into a large torta which you cook over an open fire until it turns into a large cracker like, the thinner the better.
To eat it you can sprinle a little water and salt and wrap pork pieces much like a taco.
Then there is the malanga,(Miniot root).
anybody try that.

Then there is the fufu Oriental( East Coast Of Cuba), usually with plantains that are beginning to yellow and have become sweet, but instead of boiling them you fry them, until dark golden color, then you put them in a pilon( a wooden container with another round piece of wood to mash) the name in english escapes me.
So you mash the fry plantains and add whole garlic teeth or pieces of garlic and then you make several balls of the mash plantain, you can make a large cavity in the balls of plantain and stuff them with ground beef or ground chicken.

My family and I have owned Cuban cuisine restaurants for 50 years+
So if you need a recipe, feel free to contact me.

[mellisas]

l have had fufu made out of cassava more than once in baracoa..and it was called fufu...

l agree fufu can also be made from plantain and semolina..

[Peter Perez]

l have had fufu made out of cassava more than once in baracoa..and it was called fufu...

l agree fufu can also be made from plantain and semolina..

Are you sure it wasn't Fufu de malanga ? Yuca is just not a good root to mash, it is very stringy and woody.
Now malanga is very soft and it is even given to babies.

See what malanga looks like, Cuba produces more malanga than anyoter caribbean Island.
http://www.specialfoods.com/malanga.html

See what Yuca looks like;
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cassava

They might look the same to the untrained eye but they meat texture is different.

[mellisas]

l'm sure it was yuca ..l asked about it as l was supprised to see it..l grew up in west africa ,it was a staple diet there ....some cubans in baracoa also knew about gari...and eba..fufu can also be made from yams

on the Wikipedia website you posted at the bottom of the page it talks about africa...and cassava fufu is pounded for a long time not mashed..it takes on a very gluey texture...

the african influence in the preperation of food in baracoa is very strong..l found it very interesting...

this must have been handed down from 1 generation to another..next time in cuba l would like to spend more time looking into it...

[Peter Perez]

Yes I found out your right, But back before 59 yuca was just either boiled or boiled and fry in small thin chunks.
The cuban Cuisine has had to adjust due to the scarcity of things in cuba.
Apparently due to the scarcity of Oils and fats to cook that is why they boil the plantains before smashing them to make tostones, they do that in order to save oil, but it is not as good as frying twice.

[Angelking]

You mean Yuca?? And is also called fufú in Baracoa? Interesting!

No offense to anyone here, but I would never eat anything called FUFU.
That also applies to anything called squash.


AK

[Peter Perez]

No offense to anyone here, but I would never eat anything called FUFU.
That also applies to anything called squash.


AK

What you don't like Calabaza ? Squash.
Is good for constipation, try it,LMAO

[Angelking]

What you don't like Calabaza ? Squash.
Is good for constipation, try it,LMAO

Peter went to the doctor and complained that he had the most terrible constipation.

The doctor examined him and then gave him a prescription for some tablets to be taken last thing at night.

2 weeks later Peter returned for a check-up and the doctor asked him,so Mr. Perez, how is your constipation now?

The doctor was rather surprised when Peter gloomily answered that the pills worked fine and that he went every morning at 7.30.

"So why the long face?" asked the doctor.

"Because I don't get up until 8 o'clock ! ! !" replied P.P.


AK

[Peter Perez]

Peter went to the doctor and complained that he had the most terrible constipation.

The doctor examined him and then gave him a prescription for some tablets to be taken last thing at night.

2 weeks later Peter returned for a check-up and the doctor asked him,so Mr. Perez, how is your constipation now?

The doctor was rather surprised when Peter gloomily answered that the pills worked fine and that he went every morning at 7.30.

"So why the long face?" asked the doctor.

"Because I don't get up until 8 o'clock ! ! !" replied P.P.


AK

That is not too far from the truth.
But am saving all so you can eat some of it. LMAO

[Angelking]

That is not too far from the truth.
But am saving all so you can eat some of it. LMAO

I would rather starve than eat eat fufu or squash. Iwould rather be uptight and constipated. But hey, thanks for the offer.

Next time you are in Key West, we'll have a nice American steak.

AK

[Peter Perez]

I would rather starve than eat eat fufu or squash. Iwould rather be uptight and constipated. But hey, thanks for the offer.

Next time you are in Key West, we'll have a nice American steak.

AK

Key West ? No thanks that's too gay for me.

[Angelking]

Key West ? No thanks that's too gay for me.


Oh well, life goes on.


AK

[Peter Perez]

Why not Miami Versailles.
Of course there is a gay restaurant accross the street,LOL

[Angelking]

Why not Miami Versailles.
Of course there is a gay restaurant accross the street,LOL


Whats the matter, unsure of yourself?


AK

[Peter Perez]

No, just of you,LMao