Colombian recipe: Fried Plantain Bananas and the best kept secret of the Colombian cuisine

We started our Spanish + Cooking class like usual, reviewing and learning the new words.

This time the recipe was simple, “fried plantain bananas” and I promised the students to tell them the best kept-secret of the Colombian cuisine: How to cut perfect plantain banana chips.

Cutting perfect plantain banana chips is not a secret per se, it is just a big piece of knowledge I’m passing to our students; it is the way home chefs do it, and by home chefs I mean our moms. I learned it watching my mother and my grandmother cooking.

Plantains go through various stages of ripeness, evidenced by the color of their skin. They start green, then yellow with black patches and then, at the peak of their ripeness they become completely black.

The yellow ones with black patches or the black ones are the ones you need for this recipe.

What You Need
Plantain bananas
1/2 cup of vegetable oil

Make It

Start by cutting off the tips, and then make a small cut all down the center, just to get the skin cut. Then peel it with your hands, it will come out easily.

The key to perfect fried plantain bananas is how you cut them; you want to do it in a long angular shape. And this is the secret, cut them in your hands, no need for a cooking table, just take the plantain banana in your hands and start cutting them diagonally and every slice will be perfect.

In a large pan, heat about 1/2 cup of vegetable oil over medium-high heat, then add the plantain slices and cook about 2 minutes on each side. Use neutral tasting oil such as canola or vegetable oil for this.

Remove from pan and transfer the slices to a paper towel-lined plate and serve them warm.

What do you think? Do you think you can handle the heat?