Tostones

Ingredients

Plantains

• 3green plantains

To fry

• oil, for frying, about 2 cm deep

To soak

• 500 mlwater
• 4 clovesgarlic, crushed
• 1 tbspsalt

To finish

• coarse salt

To serve

• mojo de ajo, garlic sauce
• with roast pork, with rice and beans, or on their own

Equipment

• a tostonera, or a flat plate and a heavy pan

Directions

1. Use plantains that are hard and deep green, with no yellow at all. It will brown too fast, taste sweet and refuse to crisp, and it is meant for maduros instead.
2. Cut both ends off, score the skin lengthways in three or four places, and lever it off in strips. Running them under warm water helps, and oiling your hands stops the sap staining them.
3. Cut the plantains into thick rounds, about 3 cm. Cut them thick. Thin slices simply become crisps, and a tostón should have a soft interior inside a crisp shell. Heat the oil to about 160°C, a moderate heat. Fry the rounds for 4 to 5 minutes, turning, until pale golden and soft.
4. Keep this fry gentle. The aim is to cook them through, not to colour them, and they should take almost no colour at all. Lift them out and drain them briefly. Now the smashing, which is done while they are hot.
5. Stand each round on end and press it flat to about 1 cm thick. Smash them while they are still hot, since cooled plantain goes hard and shatters instead of flattening. Press firmly and evenly, and stop before they break apart at the edges. Dip each flattened tostón briefly in salted garlic water.
6. Shake off the excess thoroughly, since dripping tostones spit violently in hot oil. Fry them again for 2 to 3 minutes until deep golden and crisp at the edges. Work in batches so the temperature does not drop.
7. Lift them out and drain them on a rack. Now salt them immediately, while they are hot and the surface is still oily. Salt them the second they come out, or it will not stick. Serve them immediately, with mojo de ajo for dipping. They must be eaten within minutes, since they go leathery as they cool and reheating never fully restores them.

Technique

• Patacones in Colombia and Ecuador, and bannann peze in Haiti, are the same thing.
• A tostonera is cheap and makes the smashing tidier.
• They must be eaten within minutes of frying.

Substitutions

• A flat plate or heavy pan in place of a tostonera.
• Any neutral oil for frying.

Variations

• Made large as a base, topped with meat or seafood.
• Dipped in garlic water before the second fry.
• Maduros, the sweet version made with ripe plantains.

History

Green plantains fried, smashed and fried again, a technique carried across the Caribbean from West African plantain cookery.

Frequently asked questions

What is Tostones?

Tostones is a salad & side from Cuba: twice-fried smashed green plantains. Green plantains fried, smashed and fried again, a technique carried across the Caribbean from West African plantain cookery.

How long does Tostones take to make?

Tostones 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 Tostones?

Yes, within limits. A flat plate or heavy pan in place of a tostonera. Any neutral oil for frying.

What is the most important thing to get right in Tostones?

Stand each round on end and press it flat to about 1 cm thick. Smash them while they are still hot, since cooled plantain goes hard and shatters instead of flattening. Press firmly and evenly, and stop before they break apart at the edges. Dip each flattened tostón briefly in salted garlic water.