In all likelihood, I won’t be writing a lot about cooking on this blog. However, this seemed like an easy topic to get the writing juices flowing. Not to mention, I need a test post to make sure I’ve fully fleshed-out all the features I’m going to want to support on this blog. Pictures, code snippets, etc.
Tostones are a fried, crispy plantain wafer. I first learned about this dish from a meal I had at Sol Food, a Puerto Rican restaurant with two locations in Mill Valley and San Rafael (2 cities in Marin County, Bay Area, CA, USA).
Fortunately, they’re very easy to make.
Ingredients
- Enough oil to create about 1-inch-deep pool of oil for your cooking vessel (small pots work great if you don’t want to use a ton of oil. Oil is a pain to discard.)
- Plantains (less ripe the better. They should still look a bit green. This keeps them savory.)
Technique - Summary
This is just a high level summary of the more detailed steps below. I find it helps to have a mental map of what you’re doing before you start reading a detailed list. It makes it easeir to group the steps and remember them while you’re cooking.
- Slice into pieces.
- Blanch-fry.
- Flatten/smash the pieces.
- Re-fry till crisp and golden brown.
Technique - Details
- Start heating up your oil (I aim to get the oil to 300-350°F)
- Peel your plantains
- Cut an incision along one of the natural grooves in the plantain.
- Insert your finger in that incision and start peeling the plantain.
- Cut plantains into 1 inch pieces. The size isn’t super important so long as you try to be consistent. Don’t sweat the smalls stuff, here. Small difference in size won’t affect the end product.
- Once the oil is hot, we’re going to fry the plantain slices in batches. If you crowd the pan, the oil temperature will drop and your plantains will not fry. Cook for about 2-3 minutes for each batch. Until they start to look brown on the outside. If your plaintains are poking out of the top of the oil. Flip them over half way through cooking.
- Using a backside of a pan or meat weight, smash the plantain pieces till they’re flat. Each piece should still be about 1 centimeter high in the middle. i.e. Don’t smash it too thin or it might fall apart in the oil.
- Fry the smashed plantain pieces again in the hot oil till crisp and golden brown.
- Salt the plaintains when they are taken out of the oil.