Tostones are made from green plantain that is fried twice, is usually salty, and crispy. Sweet plantains are typically soft and come from a more ripe plantain; this is because plantains contain a lot of starch, and as they ripen, the starch turns into sugar. Plantains are a popular ingredient in Latin American and Caribbean cuisine. We recently tried store brought salty and sweet plantain chips. The flavour was nice but compared to fresh homemade plantain chips sprinkled with a bit of brown sugar and cinnamon, there is practically no comparison.
You can make them sweet or fry them and add a little salt for savoury tostones. There are many things you can do with plantain being suited to both sweet and savoury dishes. In some regions, tostones are also known as tachinos and patacones. In terms of nutrition, cooked plantain is similar to a potato but contains more specific nutrients and vitamins such as Vitamin A, C and B6. They are also higher in potassium and fibre but could potentially pack more saturated fat. When it comes to dipping the plantain in water, you can skip out on this step if you’d like, but it does make the plantain moister inside whilst keeping it crispy on the outside.
Ingredients
Plantain (1)
Vegetable oil (90ml)
Cold water
Sea salt (to taste)
Method
Start by peeling the plantains and cutting them into one-inch chunks. Fill a saucepan with vegetable oil. We like to use groundnut oil. Fry the chunks of plantain until golden, then remove them from the pan and allow them to cool. Press down on each plantain chunk to flatten it, briefly dip it into cold water, and return to the pan to fry until crisp. Place it on kitchen paper to drain excess oil, then sprinkle with salt or cinnamon sugar and serve.
