Easyummiest Plantains

The first time I had plantains was in 2013 at the Alafia Festival in Hamburg (http://www.alafia.de/). We missed it in 2014 (, because we were in Rome and totally fell in love with the city), but I still remembered the plantains. They were so yummy. At the festival, they had fried them in big pans and there were all kinds of little stands where you could try new food and leave donations. When I was shopping at the Asian food store recently I found plantains and bought some. Then I searched for a few tips on how to make them. And, voila, here’s my recipe for plantains with salt, pepper, garlic and chili. Super simple, but that’s all it takes sometimes. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

2 plantains

3 Tbsp. olive oil

Ground pepper

Salt

Garlic, dried and ground

Chili Flakes, dried and ground

Preparation:

Cut and peel the plantains. It’s pretty simple with these few steps: Cut off the ends of the plantain and discard the tips. Hold the plantain firmly. Using the tip of a sharp (!) knife, slit the peel along the length of the plantain. Only cut as deep as the peel is thick. Remove the plantain peel. It will come off in sections. Then slice the plantain – not too thin. Check the picture, if you’re not sure what I mean. :)

Heat the oil in a frying pan. Add the plantains.

Let them brown on one side and add salt, pepper, garlic and chili to taste. I think I had the pan on high heat for most of the time. Every stove is different, so just don’t walk away. They can burn easily.

Turn over the slices. Let them brown on the other side. If desired, add more spices on this side. Remove from pan and enjoy.

Hoot, hoot! Yup, it’s really that simple. I love them. Hope you will, too. By the way, you can use the green, yellow, and black plantains. It depends on what you want to make. When green, they are bland and starchy, much like a potato. Medium ripe plantains are yellow or yellow dappled with black, and they are slightly sweet. When the skins have turned almost black, the plantains are fully ripe, aromatic and sweet.