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TOSTONES ( fried plantains)

Crispy Double fried Plantains

Ingredients

  • 4 large Green Plantains
  • 1 cup vegetable or canola oil, or as needed
  • 1 Tbs kosher salt, plus more to top

Instructions

  1. Cut the ends off of each plantain, and use a knife to cut through the skin of the plantain, lengthwise, from top to bottom. Try to only to cut through the skin, as you don’t want to slice into the inner portion, which will form the tostones. Use your fingers or a spoon to pry open and peel off the tough outer skin

  2. Slice the peeled plantains into 1 inch rounds. Remember that size does mater, you want to cut them as evenly as possible. Why is this important? Because it will help them cook evenly

  3. In a frying pan, pour oil ( oil needs to cover the entire 1 inch rounds you just cut so that they can cook properly).  Add the plantain slices to the oil. The oil should be just warm enough that it begins to lightly bubble shortly after adding the plantains, but should not bubble vigorously. Fry the plantains until softened and golden all over, about 4 minutes on each side.

  4. Use a Spider spoon or tongs to transfer to a paper towel lined plate/bowl.

  5. To flatten the plantain rounds you need to smash them. You can use “una tostonera” which is this wood utensil that you see in the pictures below, but you can also use the bottom of a glass cup, can or plate. Smash them just enough that they flatten out, but don’t try to make them too thin, or they will break apart.

  6. Brush the flattened plantain coin with oil. Repeat with the rest of the fried plantain.

  7. Season each plantain coin with salt. We are meticulous about this step making sure each coin has enough salt.  The oil that was brushed on will help the salt adhere to the plantain.

  8. When nearly ready to serve, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add the flattened plantains back to the oil in batches and briefly fry until they are crisp, I estimate about 1 minute per side. Remove with a spider spoon/tongs and transfer to a paper towel lined plate ( don’t skip the paper towel as it absorbs the extra oil).

  9. serve and enjoy!