If you’re not familiar with Latin food, you might be thinking what the heck are tostones? Trust me, you will love them! Let’s start with what tostones are made from, that is the plantain.
You may have seen them at the grocery store, next to yellow bananas. While technically they are in the banana family, you would not eat them raw, they are cooked like a vegetable. The skin is green, until it begins to ripen and then it will turn yellow to black whne they are very ripe and sweet.
Tostones use the plantain with the green skin. There are recipes that use the plantain when it’s very ripe/sweet, whereas tostones to me taste more like a chip or french fries. They are super easy to make once you know how, and I have used this recipe several times and really love it.
This Dominican Tostones recipe comes from the food blog www.sophisticatedgourmet.com. I absolutely love love love the homemade cilantro garlic sauce that you can make with this! There is another sauce that you can make as well it is a very easy pink garlic sauce as well, but today I’m sticking with the Cilantro Ajillo sauce.
Looks like this blog was created by Kamran Siddiqui, and I love that this blog’s focus is on, “approachable and sophisticated recipes…that are easy enough for cooks and bakers of all ranks to recreate at home”. I can definitely get behind that!
I made this recipe the same day I made chuletas fritas, and I feel strongly that these two go together well. However, I can also eat the whole batch of tostones alone oh, there’s such a great snack. Let’s jump right in!
What you’ll need:
Tostones
- 2 green plantains
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 3 cups water
- 1 cup neutral oil (canola, sunflower, corn, vegetable, etc.
Cilantro Ajillo
- 4 cloves garlic
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 1/4 cup fresh cilantro leaves, lightly packed
- 1/4 cup olive oil
Instructions
To slice the plantains, use a sharp knife to cut into the skin without cutting into the plantain itself. You can use your fingers or the tip of the knife to break open the skin.
Cut the plantains into 1-inch slices.
Place the plantains in a bowl cover with salt and water, stir. Let it soak anywhere from 10 minutes up to 1/2 hour.
Meanwhile, grab your Manual Food Processor and combine be cilantro leaves, garlic, salt and olive oil. Process so that you have nice pieces of leaves combined with small chunks of garlic. Set aside.
Remove the soaked plantains from the water, drying well with paper towels.
Heat one cup of neutral oil in a skillet over medium heat. The temperature of the oil should be approximately 325°F.
Place the plantains in the hot oil, cooking for about 4 minutes on each side until they’re golden brown. Remove them from the oil and drain on paper towels.
I used a meat tenderizer to smash the plantains flat.
In the meantime, I turned the heat up to medium-high on the oil. You’ll want the oil to be heated up to 350°F-360°F.
Place the plantains back in the hot oil, cooking until they are golden brown and crispy. Remove from oil and immediately salt them.
Serve tostones with the Cilantro Ajillo sauce. Delicious!!! I hope you’ll give this recipe a try, please let me know what you think of it. They are so so good, and are a great addition to any main dish.
My recipe video is below, and the link to this delicious recipe is at the bottom of this post.
Listed below are the products I used for this recipe. Please feel free to go to my website to purchase any or all of them here (please note I make commission if you do): https://www.pamperedchef.com/pws/marianielsen
PLEASE NOTE: If you want any of these items, but DON’T want to pay full price, I would be happy to help you with a party on our NEW platform TABLE, so that you can get some products FREE and discounted! I am now scheduling parties for November! For the month of November, 2021, anyone who hosts a party with me on TABLE will be entered to WIN a collection of NEW Holiday Products! Let’s make great food together!
Link to original recipe: https://www.sophisticatedgourmet.com/2020/07/tostones-recipe/
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