Thank you all for your kind words about our graduation! I’m excited that I NEVER have to blog about law school again. š We’re pretty tired from graduation events, but also pumped for our little gradmoon and for moving down to Atlanta. And a plus side of entertaining this weekend is that all the pretty decorations stick around and make our house look lovely!
I’m getting the hang of my DSLR–can you tell?
So today for lunch I enjoyed some fried plantains which, as I mentioned in a post a long time ago, are my favorite food on the planet. I remembered before I made them today that I never showed you guys my new and improved method for frying up these babies.
If you’ve ever had fried sweet plantains in a restaurant, you know that they’re supposed to be juicy and soft and perfectly sweet. I’m sure they achieve this by plopping them in a huge deep fryer, but it’s hard to get that result at home. I finally learned how to get that result several months ago and now get perfect plantains every time.
The challenge making them at home is that a lot of times you end up with a plantain that has a starchier potato-like texture on the inside and not a lot of sweetness. This actually does NOT have to do with the ripeness of the plantain. You can let it ripen for 3 weeks if you want to, but if you cook it the wrong way it will still be starchy and dry on the inside (trust me, I’ve tried it). In my old recipe, I mention frying the plantains in coconut oil. I still do this because of the high smoke point and nutritional benefits of coconut oil. BUT, if you want a soft and juicy fried plantain…this is the way to do it. Without an industrial deep fryer.
Restaurant Style Fried Plantains
by
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Keywords: side Caribbean
Ingredients (serves 2)
- 1 T. coconut oil
- 1 very ripe plantain (the darker in color, the better)
Instructions
Heat a large skillet over medium-low heat.
Peel and diagonally slice the plantain into about 1/2″ slices.
When the pan has heated, add the coconut oil and let it melt.
Add the plantain slices to the pan. *Note: if you hear a lot of sizzling in the pan, your pan is TOO HOT. You only want to hear the slightest whisper from your pan, and very small bubbles under the plantains. I keep my stove between 2 and 3 (out of 10) to let the plantains cook nice and slowly. This is what ensures the caramelization and keeps the plantains juicy.
Cook until they are deep brown on both sides, about 10-15 mintues per side.
Drain briefly on a paper towel before serving (don’t leave them on a paper towel too long, the sugars in the plantains will make them stick).
After MANY trials, I discovered the trick to achieving the texture and sweetness I wanted without deep frying is to slow cook the plantains on very low heat. As you can see from the recipe above, the process is very simple. But the results are amazing, and I’m so glad I finally figured this method out.
I happy ate the whole recipe myself. š It is my favorite food after all.
Thanks for reading!
4 Responses
Lee
Congrats on graduation! I’m excited to have you back in Atlanta! Will you be in Tucker for a while before finding a place? We need to go to the Thursday evening farmers market!
Lauren
Thanks Lee! I’m so excited to be back for good! We actually rented a place before we got here, we’re in the Emory area. Not too far away from good ol Tucker though. A farmers market trip is definitely in order, I’ve stil never been!
Lauren
Pinned!
Paige
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Keep up the great writing.