My favourite dinner snack !

Tostones, also known as patacones are a popular dish in many Hispanic countries. They are made basically very crispy unripe green plantains fried twice to achieve that amazing crunchy texture. They are delicious as a snack, appetizer or side dish, and pair amazing with some home made guacamole, salsa, ajillo or salsa rosa (mayo and ketchup).

If you are looking for ideas on what to serve these with, lots of latinoamerican countries have incredible recipes such as Venezuelan “Pabellon Venezolano”, Cuban “ropa vieja”, or fried fish.

How to choose the right plantains for tostones

Although platains may look quite similar to bananas they are very different in taste and properties. It is important when you choose the plantains for tostones that they are unripe green plantains and do not have any yellow on their skin as this means they are starting to ripen. If you use ripe plantains the tostones won’t get crispy and they will be quite soft and sweet in flavour.

These days you can find green plantains in most large supermarkers and otherwise you may want to check a local Latin American or Caribbean store or even Amazon.

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🌱Vegan and GF

🍽️ 4 portions

Ingredients

• 2 large green platains

• Extra virgin olive oil to fry

• Salt to taste

Method

• Peel the plantain. First cut off the tips and then cut into four halves. With a knife then make two cuts on the skin lenghtwise and aid yourself with the knife or your thumb to remove the though skin.

• Prepare a frying pan with around 2cm of oil and bring to medium heat. Add the plantain slices to the heated oil . Fry for about 3-4 minutes per side until it turns golden aiding yourself with a pair of tongs to flip the plantain around.

• Once the slices are cooked on each side, remove from the oil and place them on a plate lined with paper towels to absorb excess oil.

• Let the plantain cool for 4 minutes. Then, place them on top of a piece of cling film or parchment paper and cover with another piece of plastic wrap/parchment paper. With a flat dish or cutting board, press well on the pieces of plantain to flatten them.

• Bring back the pan with the oil to medium high heat. Now with a spatula place the patacones into the hot oil in a single layer and fry for an additional 3 minutes on each side until they turn golden brown.

• Remove the tostones from the oil and transfer them to a plate lined with paper towels to absorb oil and sprinkle with salt. Enjoy while hot!

FAQS and Tips

• You can top with tostones with another seasoning of your liking such as adobo, tajin or garlic salt

• Can tostones be made in advance? For best results i recommend you make the tostones from scratch once you are ready to consume then as once they cool down they well harden and loose their crispiness.

• Oil for frying: i like to use extra virgin olive oil due to its health properties but feel free to use sunflower oil if this is not readily available for you