Costa Rica Patacones Recipe
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Click to enlargeThe Costa Rica patacones are flat discs of fried plantain, a truly delightful dish in Latin America to have as an accompaniment for drinks or as a snack. Making patacones by following this popular Costa Rica cuisine recipe is easy, give it a try.
Ingredients
- 1 green plantain (you can get this at a Latin American food store)
- Oil to fill frying pot about 2/3 height.
- Salt to taste
Preparation
Peel the plantain. Plantains are tougher than a banana, the best technique to peel them is to chop off both ends, slice the tip of the knife through the skin on one side and then pry the skin off laterally instead of lengthwise. Once your plantain is peel-free, slice into one inch slices and then fry them until yellow, but don’t let them brown too much. They should be soft enough so that you can press them down with the back of a plate and squash them to about ˝ inch thick Put them back into the oil and fry them until crisp on the outside. If plantains crack or break when you press them, they aren’t cooked enough, so adjust your temperature so that they cook evenly inside and outside. Serve them with salt sprinkled on top and you can eat the patacon with cheese, guacamole, refried beans or “salsa rosada”, a mixture of ketchup and mayonnaise. Or just try your own toppings on these Costa Rica patacones and enjoy!
