This post is going to be super short because I have already written about Patacones in the past, I’ll make sure to film the process the next time! I know you can find it on YouTube, but I think my terrible joking and awkward comments will make your frying plantains experience much more interesting… I think =)

I will also share my experience of doing this whole season, 6 episodes of my Food Podcast, crazy amount of hours and so much learning.  I’m happy and proud because if technology has given us something, it has been the resources to share our voices and at least archive it. A non-scholar latina, panameñita Podcast lady, ha!

And though for now I haven’t been invited to any podcasts, nor have my ideas been accepted for me to be a guest, I will continue to study, learn, and share everything I can on this journey. Hopefully a lot of Patacones will be part of the adventure.

—– listen to podcast here —–

—– end of podcast —–

These are other photos of patacones as I mentioned how we eat it with fried fish, ropa vieja, but I don’t have the most common one you can find at any fonda probably: patacones with salchichitas, maybe I should make this for brunch this weekend!

RECIPE on this older blog post (click here)

I’m not recording a new podcast episode for this week, I’m taking a break and it was good timing: I really needed it this pause.

In regards to Patacones, I shall have a whole episode only on my research of plantains in general, but my main wish is for you to plan to give them a try soon and let me know when you do, they’re incredible delicious and I hope we can enjoy a lot of them in 2019.

¡a comer! ahem… ¡a comer PATACONES!

 This is the illustration of a Patacón Pisao! Patacones are pisaos/aplastados (stepped on/smashed) and there is a song I find hilarious of a guy who demands to eat patacon pisao.
(watch video below)
Illustration by Leo Lammie

“Patacon Pisao” A well known merengue song I grew up listening to.

I’ve been thinking about this post for a while now.  I love patacones, J loves yuca more so I go back and forth between both, yuca and green plantains, whenever I want to make frituras (Panamanian fried foods).   I have tons of memories of myself in the kitchen cooking green plantains, but I didn’t always make patacones.

It’s easier when you cook for 2-3 people, but when you have to make patacones for more than five, you better have a big frying pot.  Peeling off and slicing the plantains takes the same effort regardless of you making patacones or just platanitos (thinly sliced fried plantains).  The part that makes it different is smashing and having to double fry them, so it extends your time in the kitchen.

The way I go about this is, if I don’t have much time, I make platanitos, if I don’t mind spending a little more time in the kitchen, then patacones it is.  They’re great for dinner, and if you don’t cook it too much and you shape the patacones like mini baskets, you can stuff with cheese and chorizo, bake for a few minutes and voila, you got yourself one of the best appetizers in the whole world.  I also like to stuff them with ceviche.

We were ketchup fans at home, heck, as kids we put ketchup on everything, white rice, fried meats, fried rice, beans and even on our spaghetti (don’t judge!).  So as some of you eat french fries with a side of ketchup, I did the same with patacones.  I still have ketchup with my patacones, but now I add sriracha and spicy mustard, try it, it’s delicious!

Patacones
Serves 2 – Cooking Time 20 minutes

Ingredients
1-2 Green Plantains
Frying Oil
Salt
Fresh Black Pepper (optional)

Instructions

1-  Peel the plantains (click here to see a video on how to peel them).
2-  Slice the plantains like on Pic #2 around 1 inch.
3-  Fry them until they look yellow 2-3 minutes like on Pic #3, don’t let them get too golden brown.
4-  Brush with oil the bottom of a kitchen stone, glass or of a plate (unless you have a pataconera).  Smash the plantain (while it still hot). Pic#4. If the patacon starts breaking up when you smash it, it’s because it wasn’t fried enough.  So you can fry a little longer your next batch.
5- Once smashed, fry them again until they’re cooked through and golden brown. (1-2 mins).  Sprinkle salt and pepper once they’re done frying. Pic #5

Notes:
–  I tried to do the first frying a day in advance and then the second frying the next day and the results were not satisfactory.
–  If you have leftover fried plantains do not discard, you can freeze them and then add the next time you make a soup.
–  You can cut the plantain slices smaller than 1 inch if you want smaller patacones.
–  If they get yellow you could still make patacones, but the plantain will be softer and it wouldn’t be savory anymore.  You could instead cook them in temptation (recipe here).

¡a comer! 

Picture #2

Picture #3

Picture #4

Picture #5