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I've been making these a few times a week this summer. I fry/boil mine - fried on both sides first and then a small amount of water added to pan covered to cook them through. Not as much oil, and very tasty.

One of my favorite foods!

I like how good Latin markets will have the stacks of plantains organized by stages of ripeness.

Baked some slices with a papaya that was cut before it was fully ripe. I read that you can cook papaya like a squash. Put a little dark rum, squeeze of orange , cinnnamon, sprinkle of dark sugar. Had with black beans, rice, fried fish and salsa.

yummmmm. This is a common dessert/evening snack in South India. It's fried in ghee and then sugar sprinkled over. slurp..

I like them cut lengthwise, in long, thin strips. Seems to taste better like that !

yay! this is my favorite food!

In my home we eat them with two fried eggs. We like to dip the plantains in the eggs.

A Peruvian friend of mine makes a native dish from twice fried pantains, red onions, and bacon. He claims its a breakfast dish, but its delicious enough I eat it whenever its cooked.

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I have a Puerto Rican friend who makes the best plantains. I've tried making them a few times: some turned out better than others ;)
I think getting the oil temperature right is my biggest struggle.

The other day, I went to a restaurant in Miami serving "tortilla de maduros" -- essentially a plaintain omelette, with more eggs than a traditional Spanish tortilla. It was one of the best lunches I've had in the past while.

Then again, maduros are good in pretty much any capacity.

We ate these everywhere on our honeymoon in Costa Rica a few months ago. The very best ones we had were homemade by a family that we had the opportunity visit (and where also cut in lengthwise strips like rosaak's). They were amazing!

However, under no circumstances should you buy fried plantains at a Costa Rican airport. They were horrid.

@sparksj
The "twice fried" that you mention is referred to as a TOSTONE and is excellent! Keep in mind though that to make this type, you need the plantain to be GREEN and no where near being ripe (or maduro). I say breakfast lunch and dinner....as well as a snack. :) Very versatile in how you can top or or just top with a sprinkle of salt.

@orchidgirl1979
I'm Puerto Rican and this is a weekly staple of ours. The green (or verde) types as well as the ripe (or maduro) types can make a nice side dish with so many main courses. Depending on your area, the stores that carry them may not be of decent quality and that can certainly impact the experience. Many people are scared of these since they expect there to be some type of banana component and it's just a totally different concept.

this is my all time favorite food, people. we slice ours on a diagonal. obviously this doesn't change the taste (although there is more surface area to fry), but it does make it a lot easier to flip while cooking.

We live in Peru, and have this for lunch about once a week, with rice and fried eggs. It's my kids' favorite meal.
Cooking Plantains

I love them hot with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top!