How-2 guide on how to make Platanos (fried plantains or tostones)

February 1st, 2006 · 13 Comments

How-2 Guide on the making of Platanos

People in countries outside of Colombia call them tostones and I am not sure what else! They are nothing like what you buy in bags at the store in the “Goya” section. Those hard plantain chips are scary, I almost broke a tooth on one!Real homemade platanos are a bit crispy on the outside and moist on the inside and should be eaten hot out of the oil, well salted. I suggest also poking a few holes with a fork and slathering it with butter (yum). Go to the bottom of this post to learn about a neat tool, the E-Z Peeler, that will make you a plantain-peeling pro.I am producing this series into a How-2 guide for purchase as well, stay tuned! (Update: Ok, its been a year or so since this post and I STILL have to get it together to make this publication. I will, I promise, am just in the process of obtaining the needed software, should be soon.)

PATACONES

Ingredients:

Platanos
Cooking Oil
Heavy pot, for frying.
Heavy pan or board covered with foil or plastic and well-oiled.

Directions:

As many large platanos as you desire (these are green plantains that are starting to show a faint yellowing, but not much, along the ridges). If in doubt, use large all-green platanos.

Heat oil in the heavy pan.

With a sharp knife, cut off the two ends of the platano. Then score down vertically along one of the ridges, start peeling aside by flicking the knife edge under the peel along the cut edge.

Note: This works really well if the platano has NOT been refrigerated.

After you have peeled the platano, cut it into 2 inch pieces.

Place the pieces in the medium/hot oil and continuously turn until they have turned a golden color.

Remove the pieces from the oil to drain on a paper towel. Let these pieces “rest” for at least 15 minutes.

Using a sturdy well oiled plate, smash the pieces flat.

Return the flattened patacones to the hot oil for another 5 minutes until lightly browned, then remove to a paper towel.

Salt to taste.

Serve immediately, or they will get tough.

How-2 Photographs:

Start with green plantains.

A sharp knife is run along the length of a green plantain.

Green plantain is stripped of it’s skin. Be careful about not loosing the flesh of the plantain as you wrestle with it.See bottom of this post for information on a handy tool that will help you with this step, its like a dream!

This photo summarizes the process from unpeeled plantain to the chunks you should cut.

Fry these little beauties to a golden brown. Notice that I use my dutch oven with a heavy bottom. You do NOT want to use a cheap pot for frying anything. You need to distribute the heat evenly.

Cut up portions of platain are deep fried to a golden color. These need to rest something like 15 minutes before crushing.

Cover a heavy pan (this one is cast iron) with foil. To be used to crush the fried plantains chunks.

The fried plantain chunk is crushed with the foiled pan. Some crushed ones are seen to the right.

The patacone has been crushed flat and is peeled gentle off the bottom of the pan. This will be fried after a short rest.Fry them to a golden color, enjoy!

This photo shows the progression from chunk to crushed and fried.Try the E-Z Peeler so that you can peel platanos better than my grandma and have platanos on your plate even faster!

I do not know the people who invented this awesome tool but I admire Edwin Rodriguez’s ability to commercialize this tool with nothing but commitment and sweat (and love of platanos). They were written about in the New York Times (link) and their site is at this link.Visit, buy, use, let me know how it goes!

Technorati Tags:
Colombia, Fritanga, fried, recipe, receta, photograph, photography, Colombian, plantain, platano

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13 comments for this entry ↓

1 vanessa // Feb 1, 2006 at 3:15 pm

I just read that article! What a great story. I came across your blog during DMBLGIT over at Andrew’s site. It’s beautifulâ€”fantastic photography. I’ll be visiting again
2 nika // Feb 1, 2006 at 6:39 pm

Vanessa - thanks for stopping by! Yeah, that story is wonderful, makes the American Dream seem just a bit more real.

Thanks for your kind words re: my blog!
3 Anonymous // Feb 4, 2006 at 5:23 pm

I have looked at both the cmpanada pictures and those of the the patacones and my mouth is watering. I am a Colombian-American, now living in Pennsylvania and missing all the extraordinary foods of my wonderful country. I will be interested in getting your book when it is published!.

Elena
4 nika // Feb 4, 2006 at 11:30 pm

Elena: thank you for stopping by! I am glad you love Colombian food as much as I do!

I am still plugging away at the first book. Will definitely let everyone know when its ready to go!

Thanks again for visiting!
5 nicole // Aug 7, 2006 at 8:21 am

This “how-2 guide” is great! I wrote a post on my own blog trying to explain the process of making tostones but I found that your photos and explanations are so great that I added a link to your site instead of trying to explain everything on my own without the photos. Thanks a lot! P.S. I really like your site!
6 maggie // Jun 1, 2007 at 12:53 am

Instead of putting salt after cooking dipp flattened plantain in salt water for two second before refriyng it work wonders
7 Nika // Jun 1, 2007 at 8:14 am

nicole: I am so glad you liked it! Will check out your blog for that post.

maggie: Yeah, I have seen those directions in recipes for tostones of the puerto rican variety. I never saw my mom or my grandma or other relatives use this method.

I wonder if it has an impact on the final texture.

I also would wonder about that water causing more oil splatter (you know, the little explosions that happen when you put water in hot oil).. Next time I make patacones, I might experiment with it.
8 Tammy // Aug 28, 2007 at 7:36 pm

Mmmmm. I just used this recipe to make platanos for the first time. I had tried them when I was in Costa Rica two summers ago and absolutely loved them. I just finished eating the ones I made and they taste great. Wonderful job with the pictures and description. Thanks!
9 Danny // Sep 12, 2007 at 11:44 pm

Every time i see my grandma make these she crushes the plantains raw before frying them and they still come out the same…does she have a secret or can i try the same thing?
10 Nika // Sep 12, 2007 at 11:47 pm

Hmm .. I have never seen them made that way. You might want to ask her why she does it that way, might be a short cut she prefers.
11 fernando duque // Jan 2, 2008 at 3:19 pm

do you know how to make empanada chips there made out of the same substance as la empanada. i tried to fry them in the shape of a triangle put it kind of exploted in the oil, so please if you have any ideas please email me.
12 Nika // Jan 6, 2008 at 4:45 pm

Fernando: I have never heard of this.

I found this on the web:

http://www.dianaskitchen.com/page/bread/corntort.htm

http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,1818,135190-241194,00.html

http://www.massrecipes.com/recipes/04/09/masaharinatortillasorchip14979.html

I cant vouch for any of this!

Good luck!
13 Kathy // Mar 28, 2008 at 10:29 am

Hey — thanks for the recipe. We adopted our Colombian-born son from the country 7 years ago and celebrate his adoption each year by making Colombian-based food. I forgot how to make the fried plantains that we so enjoyed down there. Thanks for the nice description & pictures. Looking forward to making them this year! Thanks!