Plátano en tentación

Ingredients

The plantains

• 4very ripe plantains
• black-skinned
• peeled and cut in lengths

The syrup

• 150 gbrown sugar
• or panela, grated
• 2 stickscinnamon
• 6cloves
• about 300 ml water
• a pinch of salt

Sometimes added

• 3 tablespoonsbutter
• a splash of rum
• a strip of orange peel
• 2star anise

To serve

• warm, beside rice and meat
• or alone as a sweet

Directions

1. Brown sugar is the usual substitute. It must be grated or chopped to dissolve. Peel all the very ripe plantains. Cut both of the ends off first. Score the skin down lengthwise. Cut them into lengths or thick slices. Thick diagonal slices are also used. Keep the pieces reasonably large. Ripe plantain is soft to begin with.
2. Put the sugar and water in a wide pan. Add the cinnamon and the cloves. Add the pinch of salt to them. Use a wide pan rather than a deep one. The plantains should sit in one layer. Warm it until the sugar dissolves. Stir it until the liquid runs clear. Panela takes longer than brown sugar.
3. Grate it first to help it along. Do not add the plantains before it dissolves. Lay the plantain pieces in the syrup. Lay them all in a single layer. They should be mostly submerged.
4. Add a little more water if not. Bring it up to a gentle simmer. Let it cook for about thirty minutes. Keep it at a gentle simmer only. Turn the pieces halfway through. Turn them gently with a spatula.
5. Turn them once rather than repeatedly. A thick syrup burns very quickly. Stir in a little butter near the end. Butter enriches the syrup considerably. Some cooks add it and some do not.
6. Add a splash of rum near the end. It adds a warm background note. Let it bubble to cook off the alcohol. A minute or two of it does that.
7. Add a splash of water and cook on. Take all of them right out of it. Serving it is done while still warm. Spoon the plantains onto a dish. Pour all of the syrup over them. Every piece should get some syrup.

Technique

• Keep it at a gentle simmer throughout: a hard boil breaks the soft plantains apart and burns the sugar. Once the syrup thickens near the end, watch it closely and lower the heat, since a thick sugar syrup goes from caramel to bitter very fast — do not leave the pan.
• The plantains must be very ripe with black skins, when they are sweetest and softest and will caramelise and absorb the spiced syrup; yellow ones stay hard, starchy and bland.
• Use a wide pan so the plantain sits in a single layer, since stacked pieces cook unevenly and break when turned. Cut them into large pieces and turn them once with a spatula, supporting them as you go — small pieces fall apart entirely.

Substitutions

• Dark brown sugar stands in for panela, unrefined whole cane sugar sold in blocks with a deep molasses flavour; grate or chop either to help it dissolve, and do not add the plantains before it has.
• A little butter stirred in near the end enriches the syrup and gives it a gloss, and a splash of rum adds a warm background note; both are genuinely done in Panama.

Variations

• Cinnamon and cloves go in whole rather than ground, which makes the syrup muddy; fish them out before serving, since they turn bitter left in and someone would bite one.
• The syrup should reduce to a glaze that clings rather than runs, and it thickens further as it cools, so stop before it goes too far.
• It is served both as a side beside rice and meat and alone as a sweet, sometimes with cream; sweet sides are normal in the region.

History

A Panamanian side and sweet served with rice and meat, using very ripe plantains cooked down in spiced syrup.

Frequently asked questions

What is Plátano en tentación?

Plátano en tentación is a dessert from Panama: ripe plantains simmered in sugar, cinnamon and cloves until dark. A Panamanian side and sweet served with rice and meat, using very ripe plantains cooked down in spiced syrup.

How long does Plátano en tentación take to make?

Plátano en tentación takes 10 minutes of preparation and 40 minutes of cooking. The recipe makes serves 6. It is rated easy to make.

What can I substitute in Plátano en tentación?

Yes, within limits. Dark brown sugar stands in for panela, unrefined whole cane sugar sold in blocks with a deep molasses flavour; grate or chop either to help it dissolve, and do not add the plantains before it has. A little butter stirred in near the end enriches the syrup and gives it a gloss, and a splash of rum adds a warm background note; both are genuinely done in Panama.

What is the most important thing to get right in Plátano en tentación?

Brown sugar is the usual substitute. It must be grated or chopped to dissolve. Peel all the very ripe plantains. Cut both of the ends off first. Score the skin down lengthwise. Cut them into lengths or thick slices. Thick diagonal slices are also used. Keep the pieces reasonably large. Ripe plantain is soft to begin with.