How to Cook Plantain

Plantains are easy to cook if you know how to handle them.

A plantain fried just right goes great with meats such as beef or chicken. Once considered the exotic cousin to the banana, plantain recipes are popping up all over. However, many home chefs are reluctant to include this unfamiliar fruit in their meal plans because of the perceived difficulty of cooking it. Fear not: Here is a simple recipe for fried plantains than can be prepared in less than 15 minutes.

Things You'll Need

• Plantain
• Stove
• Vegetable or Peanut Oil
• Frying Pan

Instructions

1. Buy plantains. If you plan to use them soon, pick ones that are yellow or slightly brown. If you plan to use them later, pick still green plantains to give them time to ripen. Store the plantains at room temperature until they are ripe.

2. Peel the plantains. Plantains have ticker skins than bananas. The easiest way is to cut one end and peel from the end. Sometimes residual skin needs to be cut from a green plantain if it is not completely ripe.

3. Slice the peeled plantains into equal sized portions. Slices less than ½ inch thick work best. Keeping the slices to an equal size makes it easier to time the frying of the plantains.

4. Coat the frying plan in vegetable or peanut oil and let it fully heat to 350 degrees F (medium setting) before cooking.

5. Fry the plantains until they are golden brown. You should flip them a few times to get even cooking. Once the plantains are fried to a golden brown, place them on a paper towel covered plate.

6. Immediately sprinkle the plantain fried to a golden brown with a mixture of sugar and some cinnamon. The sugar should caramelize. A plantain fried this way should have a light crispy texture.

Tips & Warnings

• Fried plantains are best served hot.

• If you are not ready to use a ripe plantain, they can be kept frozen up to a year.

• Fried plantains also taste great with salsa.