Ingredients
Plantain
- 4very ripe plantains, skins deep yellow with heavy black patches
- 1 tspsalt
- 600 mlred palm oil or refined vegetable oil, for frying
Sauce (piment)
- 2onions, sliced into thin half-moons
- 2tomatoes, deseeded and diced
- 2–4fresh chillies (piment antillais or scotch bonnet), finely chopped
- 1stock cube, crumbled, or 1 tsp salt
- 1 tbspoil
- Juice of half a lemon
To serve
- 4eggs, fried (optional)
- Attiéké or plain rice
Directions
- Choose plantains that are almost black. Yellow-green ones are starchy and will fry hard and bland; the sugars in a very ripe plantain are what give the caramelised crust.
- Peel by cutting the ends off, scoring the skin lengthways along a ridge and levering it off with your thumb.
- Cut into 2 cm thick diagonal slices or short fingers, and toss with the salt.
- Heat the oil in a deep pan to 170–175°C (350–350°F); test with one piece, which should rise and bubble steadily rather than sit still or spit violently.
- Fry in batches, without crowding, for 3–4 minutes, turning once, until the pieces are deep golden with dark caramel edges and soft all the way through.
- Lift out with a slotted spoon and drain on paper or on a rack; salt again lightly while hot.
- For the sauce, soften the onion in a spoonful of oil for 3–4 minutes so it keeps some crunch, add the tomato and chilli, cook 3 minutes, then season and finish with lemon. In Abidjan maquis this is often served raw and simply macerated.
- Fry the eggs if using, and pile the hot alloco onto a plate with the piment sauce spooned over or served alongside, eaten with a toothpick or with your fingers.
Technique
- Alloco is Côte d’Ivoire’s most-eaten street snack, sold from open-air stalls by women known as alloco-tantie, fried to order in wide black pans of palm oil.
- Red palm oil is the traditional fat and gives both colour and a distinctive savoury-earthy note. It smokes lower than refined oil, so keep the temperature at 170°C (350°F) and never let it darken.
- Do not crowd the pan. Each piece must be surrounded by hot oil or the plantain steams, absorbs oil and goes soggy instead of crisping.
Substitutions
- If plantains are unripe and you cannot wait, ripen them in a paper bag for 3–4 days, or use a very ripe cooking banana as a poor second best.
- Refined groundnut or sunflower oil can replace palm oil; add a pinch of paprika to the salt for colour.
Variations
- Alloco is commonly served with a fried egg on top as a full meal, or alongside attiéké.
- Ghanaian kelewele is the spiced cousin: the plantain is tossed with ginger, chilli, clove and a little salt before frying.
- Some stalls fry the plantain twice, at a lower then a higher temperature, for a firmer, crisper edge.
History
Plantains reached West Africa from Asia centuries ago; Abidjan turned fried plantain into a street institution sold at open-air stands nicknamed allocodromes.
Frequently asked questions
What is Alloco?
Alloco is a street food from Côte d’Ivoire: fried ripe plantain chunks with chili-onion sauce, often grilled fish or egg. Plantains reached West Africa from Asia centuries ago; Abidjan turned fried plantain into a street institution sold at open-air stands nicknamed allocodromes.
How long does Alloco take to make?
Alloco takes 15 min of preparation and 20 min of cooking. The recipe makes 4 servings. It is rated easy to make.
What can I substitute in Alloco?
Yes, within limits. If plantains are unripe and you cannot wait, ripen them in a paper bag for 3–4 days, or use a very ripe cooking banana as a poor second best. Refined groundnut or sunflower oil can replace palm oil; add a pinch of paprika to the salt for colour.
What is the most important thing to get right in Alloco?
Heat the oil in a deep pan to 170–175°C (350–350°F); test with one piece, which should rise and bubble steadily rather than sit still or spit violently.
