There’s a Caribbean-Southern restaurant in Saint Paul called Brasa that I am absolutely in love with, and they serve fried plantains with a green sauce that I suspect has cilantro in it, but is still very delicious. I didn’t make my sauce with cilantro (because I would not dare! It tastes like soap!) but it still had the essence of Brasa’s sauce.
Fried plantains are also really big in the Philippines, and when I went with my mom last year we had something called baduya which is battered and fried plantains. SO GOOD. Stay tuned for that recipe soon…
If you’re looking to be the cool person at the Super Bowl party next weekend, look no further than this recipe.
Fried Plantains with Green Sauce Recipe by Baker’s Theory
Ingredients
For the green sauce
1 ripe avocado, pit removed
1/2 cup mayo
4 oz diced green chiles
1/2 cup chopped green onions
1/2 cup cilantro (optional!)
Juice of two limes
2 cloves garlic, whole
For the plantains
2 ripe plantains (yellow with brown spots)
Oil for frying (Vegetable, canola, or peanut work)
Salt
Serves 6-8
Instructions
For the green sauce
Halve an avocado and remove the pit. Scoop out its insides and drop into a food processor. Add mayo, green chiles, green onions, garlic, and cilantro, if using. Squeeze the juice of two limes over all of it and place lid on food processor. Process on high until the sauce is soft, pale green, and the onions have been pureed. Place in refrigerator until ready to serve. (Can be made a day in advance.)
For the plantains
In a medium, heavy bottomed sauce pot, pour in a neutral oil until it reaches about 2″ in the pot. Put on medium heat.
Line a plate with paper towel or place a cookie cooling rack over a cookie sheet.
Peel plantains by creating two lengthwise incisions along the plantain. (The skin is thick, so peeling it like a banana might cause the plantain to break.) Slice into 1/2″ disks.
When the oil has reached 350 F (if you don’t have a thermometer, the oil should be hot near the surface and you’ll see swirls in it), drop the plantain slices in. They should start to sizzle immediately, and if they do not, your oil is not hot enough yet. Work in batches to fry. When the plantain disks turn golden brown, transfer them to the plate or cooling rack and turn your oil to low.
Once all disks have been fried, on a flat surface (like a cutting board) use the flat part of a wooden spoon to smash the disks into even flatter disks–about 1/4″ thick.
Turn the oil back to medium and when hot enough (350F), refry the flattened disks. They should fry much more quickly than the first time, turning brown and crisp.
Once completely fried, transfer to a plate or cooling rack again. Sprinkle with salt immediately after transferring so that it sticks to the hot oil.
Serve immediately. (Does not reheat or keep well, so only make what you need.)