A savory side dish, twice fried plantains, tostones, with pink sauce, is a Cuban, Puerto Rican, and Dominican staple and I love them! Although they look like bananas, plantains are larger, harder to peel, and less sweet than you might expect. Tostones are prepared with green plantains. They are delicious and nutritious too!
What You Need to Make Tostones
Three simple ingredients are needed to make tostones: green plantains, oil, salt.
How to Purchase and Store Plantains
At the market, look for green plantains. As they ripen, the skin turns from green to yellow to black. Store the plantains at room temperature. After a few days on the countertop, the plantains will turn yellow. After a few more days, they start to brown. Unlike bananas, when they turn brown, they are super sweet and are used to make a dish called maduros, which we will get to in a minute.
How to Peel Plantains
The hardest part of making fried plantains is peeling the plantains. Plantains are peeled differently than bananas. While bananas are peeled from top to bottom, plantains are peeled by removing a vertical strip of the fruit and then pulling the skin off across the plantain.
- First, slice the tips off each plantain off with a small knife.
- Make two shallow slits down the length of the plantain (as shown above) without scoring the flesh. Slide the tip of the knife under the skin between the cuts and carefully lift it off enough so you can peel the skin off.
- Next, grab the peel in the middle of the skin and pull horizontally, unlike a banana that you peel from top to bottom. Once the plantain has the first slit in it, peel the skin across the fruit.
- If you are having trouble getting the whole peel off, make another set of slits on the opposite side of the plantain and repeat.
How to Prepare Tostones
- Slice the peeled plantains crosswise into disks, about 1-inch thick.
- In a large skillet, heat your oil of your choice until shimmering, 3 to 5 minutes. Carefully add the plantains to the heated oil. Cook for about 1 ½ minutes or until they are golden and firm. Turn heat down to low.
- Next, remove the plantains to a plate lined with paper towels.
- Flatten each disk using a tostonera (see below), a sturdy drinking glass, or the flat side of a meat mallet.
- Raise the heat and return the plantains to the hot oil and fry for an additional 2 minutes per side, or until crispy and golden brown. You will likely need to work in batches to fry the flattened disks, adding additional oil if needed.
- To top them, add a sprinkling of coarse sea salt and serve immediately.
How to Smash the Plantains
This wooden utensil is a tostonera. A tostonera is a simple gadget that you can buy at Cuban markets in South Miami such as Sedano's. It consists of two pieces of wood held together with tiny hinges. You can line it with waxed paper to prevent sticking. You can also use a drinking glass with a flat bottom or the side a large chef's knife to flatten the disks.
A Traditional Mayo-Ketchup Sauce
To make a traditional pink sauce for tostones, combine a half cup of mayonnaise with 3 tablespoons of ketchup and two peeled and pressed or finely minced garlic cloves in a small dish. Serve alongside the tostones.
Garlicky Pink Sauce for Kaufmann Dieters
Mix one half cup of homemade mayonnaise with 1-½ tablespoons of tomato paste (try Cento brand. it has no preservatives), ½ teaspoon of apple cider vinegar, 2 minced garlic cloves, and 2 teaspoons pure monk fruit sweetener or xylitol.
Always use green or-yellow-green plantains to make these. The starch in the plantain turns to sugar when they the plantains turn black and although it's better than eating a cookie, it should probably be avoided.
Nutrition Information about Plantains
Plantains are a great source of fiber, vitamins A, C, and B-6, magnesium, potassium and fiber and resistant starch. Resistant starch acts as a prebiotic, providing food for the probiotics in your gut.
There are good and bad bacteria in your gut. Sugars, grains, and yeasts feed the bad gut bacteria and aid the growth of fungi. For more information about the ill effects of fungi, read the Kaufmann Phase One Diet.
What are Platanos Maduros?
As plantains ripen, the skin goes from green to yellow to black. Their starches are converted to sugars. A ripe plantain tastes more like a banana, and they are deep fried in many Cuban homes and restaurants. In Spanish, they are called platanos maduros.
Let's say you buy some green plantains and don't get around to using them. They are still good! The starch slowly turns to sugar, and they are delicious.
The restaurants deep fry black plantains for a few minutes until they are almost black. You can make them a little bit healthier by pan frying them. You don't have to smash them the way you smash the tostones; let them cook in the oil 3-5 minutes until they caramelize on all sides.
Serving Suggestions
Serve your crispy tostones as an appetizer with pink sauce, guacamole, pico de gallo or a squeeze of fresh lime juice. They also make a great side dish with pan seared grilled chicken and seared duck breast.
Tostones with Pink Sauce
Ingredients
FOR THE PINK SAUCE
- ½ cup mayonnaise
- 3 tablespoon ketchup
- 2-3 large garlic cloves pressed in garlic press or minced
FOR THE PLANTAINS
- 3 green plantains
- ½ cup oil (you can use coconut oil, grapeseed, or avocado oil)
- 1-2 tablespoon coarse sea salt
Instructions
FOR THE PINK SAUCE
- Combine mayonnaise, ketchup, and garlic in a small bowl; mix well. Refrigerate in a covered jar until ready to serve.
FOR THE PLANTAINS
- Make two shallow slits down the length of the plantain without scoring the flesh. Slide the tip of the knife under the skin between the cuts and carefully lift it off.
- Grab the peel in the middle of the fruit and pull horizontally, unlike a banana that you peel from top to bottom. Once the plantain has the first slit in it, the peel is pulled off across the fruit.
- Slice the peeled plantains crosswise into disks, about ½-inch thick.
- In a large skillet, heat the oil of your choice (coconut oil, grapeseed oil, avocado oil) over medium-high heat until shimmering, 3 minutes. Carefully add the plantains to the hot oil, cooking on each side for about 1 ½ minutes or until they are golden. but not brown. When they are all cooked, turn heat to lowest setting.
- As they come out of the pan, place the plantain disks on a plate lined with paper towels. When cool enough to handle, flatten each disk using a tostonera or a sturdy drinking glass or flat meat mallet.
- Raise the heat to medium-high and return the flattened plantain disks to the hot oil and fry for an additional 1 to 2 minutes per side, or until crispy and golden brown. You will likely need to work in batches to fry the flattened disks, adding additional oil if needed.
- Top with a sprinkling of coarse sea salt and serve immediately.
HOW TO SERVE TOSTONES
- Place tostones on a serving platter with a bowl of pink sauce. Enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition Information
The nutrition information is provided as a courtesy and it comes from online calculators. Although we try to attempt to provide accurate information, these figures are estimates only.