Frozen Plantains - Deal of the Day

Fried and frozen, Ripe Plantain Slices by Tio Jorge is a great Deal of the Day.

Black is truly beautiful for this fruit. Plantains are not like typical bananas because they hold up to cooking without turning to mush. But it takes patience. A typical sweet Plantain must ripen to black before it reaches maximum sweetness. Since they are usually sold green, this may take a couple of weeks until they turn black and are ready to fry. I find them in Latin markets and even regular grocery stores are starting to stock them.

South or Central American, and Cubans serve Fried Bananas like typical Americans do with French fries. Is it a dessert or a side dish? Go to local a Cuban restaurant for Roast Pork or Chicken and it's a sweet side dish along with white rice, black beans and tender starchy yucca.

And if you are looking for cheap$kate Cuban Recipes I have a flotilla-full a click away here, including: a Cuban Sandwich, Black Beans, Roast Pork, Fried Plantains and Tostones, Yucca, Cuban Salad, plus a refreshing Mojito flavored with sugar cane.

Let's get this out of the way, Fried Plantains are greasy. I guess you could roast them for a low fat version, but Latin palates are used to eating them fried in a lot of oil. The ingredient list of this Deal of the Day only mentions banana and vegetable oil and that's okay with me, the less chemical additives the better.

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These Frozen Plantains are cooked, so all you need to do is zap them for 2 to 4 minutes until hot. They are tender and sweet just like they should be. When I cook with them I will brown them more, but this frozen version is close enough.

I got these Fried Plantains at my local 99c only Store in a 10 ounce frozen package. I would guess that the amount equals about two plantains - this is a good deal as a typical Latin market would sell them raw for the same price. So for convenience, they are fine.

So on the 99 Cent Chef's Cheap$kate Scale of 1 to 9, 9 being best, I rate Ripe Plantain Slices by Tio Jorge a a perfect 9 ! If you find these, then pick up a few packages, they are a sweet side that even kids would approve of.