bananimal

Cut off the top hand of the fully plumped Dwarf Orinoco while still green. It's Tostonees time tonight, yum yum!

Hand weighed in at 7 lbs, 10 oz. Much better than it's mama that lived in a pot for 2 years, and then went in the ground in S Fla..

Dan

bencelest

How do you cook tostonees may I ask?

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Greenie

good job!

mskitty38583

they look yummy! congrats!!

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jpfloors

You slice them off in about 1" sections diagonally... let them soak in salt water for a while, I usually do it for about 6-8 hours (they can also be refridgerated like this over night). It helps get all of the extra stuff from the peel off of the plantains. Fry them until golden brown, take them out, cool for about 30-60 seconds, smash them (as they look above), I usually take tin foil, fold it in half, place the tostone between the foil, then smash with the bottom of a glass. Then just lightly for a split second re-dip them back in the salt water used previously, and re-fry them for a few more minutes. I usually use about 4"-6" of oil in a pot though because I usually cook 3-6 plantains worth of tostones at a time! It's very simple, but a little time consuming. Good luck if you try doing it!

Richard

Dan, those look great. Congratulations!

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bananimal

Josh,

I've been trying to cook tostones for years and was never really happy with the result. Then I ran into a recipe in a Carribean cookbook, in English, thank God -- my Spanish stinks. Tried it and it worked - no more tough, dried up tostones.

All the elements in your description match that recipe. Here is additional info from that recipe.

Do the first fry on medium till they soften, but take them out before they show browning. Several mins for this step.

Do the second fry, ater smashing and dipping, on med high heat. Go for golden brown now. Grab one and taste now and then to make sure not underdone.

In time you will know when done just by the color. And, just like french fries, salt immediately.

Dan

momoese

From my experiance the second salt bath is not required. I love my salt but I think it's over kill. I think next time I'm going to use sugar water for the second bath hoping for that magic balance you get with Kettle Corn! Maybe even a sprinkle of sugar after frying.

jpfloors

Hey Dan, Actually your recipe is very close mine (which is actually the true way they do it in PR), the only difference is you do want them to get a little more golden in the first fry. The reason is to soften them up enough on the inside for the smashing. Tostones are suppose to be like a thicker potatoe chip texture and with a crunch. I know some that actually like them border line burnted (turning slightly more than golden brown).

Then you can make a sauce that goes with them as well that is called "magic." They also use this in PR. It's 45% ketchup, 45% mayonaise, 10% crushed garlic, and seasoned with adobo to taste (a Puerto Rican seasoning mixture). You should try it sometime. I always take an old ketchup bottle with it mixed up and it'll last in your fridge just as long as a jar of mayo would so that way you don't have to prepare it everytime you make tostones!!!! I just make it directly in the ketchup bottle to about 3/4 full and just shake it in there rather than premake it and try getting it in there. It's easiest that way if you have squeezable bottles! It's also good for fries and other things as well!!! But SHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!! Don't tell any one I gave you that recipe LOL

Josh

mskitty38583

we made some of these with plantains i got at kroger. i do have to say i really didnt like them. then i made some and rolled them in sugar, cinnamon,nutmeg and just a dash of cloves. these were a lot better. i dont know if its the plantains i used or if my pallet isnt refined enough to enjoy the regular ones. my oldest daughter loved them.

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jpfloors

Hey Mitchel, I actually forgot something above, when you dip the second time, shake it off a little first before putting in the fryer. I don't think the second dip actually would give you too much more salt content, it's more for moisture reasons! You could try possibly not salting them afterwords or just barely salt them afterwords. For about 3-6 plantains I actually use about 1/2 a cup of salt in the water. You could try using less in the water as well, but I think it's more important to the texture of frying so I'd definately go the route of not salting afterwords if it was too salty! Though, sugar might have some interesting effects. Let me know how that turns out!!!!

Good luck everyone!


Josh

jpfloors

Did you make them with the GREENEST of GREEN plantains? They can't have ANY yellow or black on them.

What you could try is Amarillos, then you use the YELLOWEST of YELLOWS (so bad they're BLACK!). You'll know when they're ripe as before you peel them, you can feel that they're a little mushy, kind of like when a regular banana is very ripe (but not yet bad). You slice them in the 1" sections as totones, but you only fry them once until they're golden brown. The texture looks much different. They'll also look way over ripe to you and the plantain more of an orangish yellow. It's very tricky to tell when they're exactly ripe. I sometimes have to hold plantains for a month or more from the store to get them to them just ripe enough to do amarillos. They do take longer to cook and they kind of appear to expand in the fryer as their sugar content is very high since their starches converted to sugar.

It might be worthwhile to mention here that peeling a plantain is NOTHING like peeling a banana. You have to take the plantain, cut the ends off diagonally as you would cut the rest of the fruit for cooking. I generally take the stem end to my left and cut both ends diagonal top left to bottom right. After this you go to the top of the curve (or what would be, some plantains are straight!) and make a slit from top to bottom down the peel, just go deep enough to get the peel and maybe barely score the fruit. Then you peel it. Be careful not to get this into your fingernails as you're peeling. It will hurt later. Don't know why (anyone else know?). I usually take the tip of the knife to pull the peel back til I can grasp it with my fingers. You'll peel it going around rather than top to bottom.

Hope this all helps everyone! I'm poopped from all of these instructions! LOL

bananimal

Josh hits it on the head citing the second salt water dunk was for moisture added to the finished product. Using the same water from the first soak before the first fry is just kitchen economy. Fresh salt water is not necessary.

That "magic" sauce is new to me Josh - will try. Have only heard of a dip called "mojo". Lightly fried minced garlic in olive oil with a light touch of lemon or lime juice.

jpfloors

Hmmm, never heard of mojo for tostones... maybe that's a cuban thing? As you are closer to Miami (little Havana) where I just moved from little San Juan PR (AKA Orlando, FL area). Only really hear about mojo in stuff like yucca (casava root) pronounced kind of like: Joo-ka (don't understand why PR's pronounce their Y's like J's, even in words like Yo... they say it like "Joe," meaning "I"). Going down to Miami next weekend. I'll have to ask my cousin if the cubans around there do that. That is one I'm still having an issue mastering. I'm going to have to get my mother in law to actually sit me down and watch her from start to finish on that! Most things I can pick up just from looking at the food and taste, but not that one!

FYI, I think it's IRONIC that NYC has the highest population in the world of Puerto Ricans, Orlando is second, San Juan PR is third! They've WAY out grown that little Island... I'll be adding to it in a few years as I'm moving there!!! Hahaha

devildog805

Great looking bunch.