Tostones

It’s hard to beat a two-ingredient recipe — especially when that recipe results in a crispy, salty, starchy treat. The plantain, a close cousin to the standard Cavendish banana, is a staple in Latin American and Caribbean cooking. In this recipe, green plantains are fried, smashed, and fried again for a simple-yet-satisfying dish that’s a classic for many.

The miraculous thing about a plantain is it takes on a completely different texture and flavor depending on its level of ripeness. 

• Green plantains: A green plantain, freshly picked, is quite firm and difficult to peel. The trick is scoring the skin on three different sides, and peeling away strips of the skin one by one. Green plantains can be fried to make tostones, smashed with fried pork skin to make mofongo, cut up and added to stews, ground to be folded between banana leaves to make pasteles, and much more.
• Yellow plaintains: As plantains age, they grow yellow and dark in spots. Plantains at this stage are sweet and sort of sticky — perfect for frying to make maduros, a name that literally translates to “mature.”

Be sure to fry the plantain pieces long enough in the first stage. If you find that they are crumbling apart when you flatten them, it’s because the plantain is still slightly raw and needs to cook longer in order to soften. And, like with any fried foods, be sure to season with salt immediately — and even a squeeze of lime!