Cooking Green Plantains

Cooking green plantains is very easy. During my recent visit to Compare Food Latin Market I picked up some.  To peel off the thick rind, first cut plantain into 2 or 3 sections depending on the size.

Use the point edge of a knife and cut through the rind.  Make at least three cuts in this manner.

 

 Peel off using your fingers.

I just realized I don't have a picture showing how to cut plantain.  There are two was you can cut the plantain, in slices no larger than 1/4" thick or in chunks about an inch in thickness.  The picture below shows the thicker plantain.  In my country these are called Patacones.  Puerto Rican's call these Tostones.

To make the Patacones, after cutting in approximately 1" thickness, you will fry in hot oil (vegetable oil or canola oil).  You will need to put more or less 1/4" oil in your frying pan. Cook on each side until the plantain changes color.  It will not be cooked through yet.  Remove plantain chunks from the oil and mash them.  If you don't have a masher like mine you can use a clean brown paper bag.  Place plantain in between two sections of paper and mash the plantain.

 

 This is the plantain masher I bought in Panama.

 The plantain will look like this after you mash it.

 After mashing the plantains, return them to the hot oil to finish the cooking process.  You will now just cook them for a couple minutes on each side on the hot oil.

 Cooked plantains.  Sprinkle sea salt or regular salt once they are cooked. 

The ones in chunks are semi cooked.  Semi  cooking makes it possible to mash the plantains.

The easier method of cooking green plantains is to simply slice and fry in hot oil. They cook very quick so keep an eye.  Place hot plantains on paper towels.   Sprinkle salt as soon as they are done.

It is best to cook and eat your plantains right away.  If you do have left overs you can save in the refrigerator but will have to reheat in the oven or toaster oven to restore the crispiness. 

Plantains are good to eat and good for your health too.  Read more about the nutritional value of the plantain here

Shopping Experiences this Weekend

I finally made it to the two stores that cater to the Asian and Hispanic community. Our first stop was at Super G Mart International Food. It is located in the old Bi-Lo store on Independence Blvd near Margaret Wallace.  There also used to be a Best Buy store in the same shopping center. The majority of the people shopping were orientals...and I was mainly really impressed at the large amount of produce (fruits and vegetables)....some I had never seen before.

How is this for a fruit?  It's the Jack Fruit and it's the largest known fruit in existence.  Cliff said this one weighed around 30 lbs.  Wish I could have sampled some.  I intend to read more about this huge fruit.  Compare Food also carries this huge specimen.  It is sold by the pound.

Not sure if this is a fruit or a vegetable.  I think it's a fruit and it's not 59 cents each but the pound.
Read about it here.

The eggplants were so beautiful and quite abundant.  I will definitely buy some when I run out.  We have had eggplant growing all summer in our garden.

Our next stop was at the Compare Food Store.  This is the one I was more interested in going since it carries latin/hispanic food. Their produce section was not quite as large as the first store we visited.  The fruit selection was good and they carry my favorites, papayas, mangoes, beautiful limes, plantains, etc...and some fruit I had never seen before.  This one was not labeled and I have never seen it in Panama.  Very pretty to look at bright and colorful. The spice wall was immense as you can see in the background.

Checking out our items.  I only bought items I'm not able to get at my regular stores, such as plantain chips, green plantains, yucca, Masarepa (for making corn tortillas) and papaya. I am planning to prepare the  yucca today.  I would definitely do more shopping at this store in the future.