- Green plantains, sliced thick
- Two fries with a smash between
- Salt; garlic mojo for dipping
Tostones
Tostones, twice-fried plantains. Photo via Wikimedia Commons.
Tostones are the Caribbean's universal side: green plantain slices fried once, smashed flat, fried again until crisp, and salted. The double fry is the whole trick: the first cook softens, the smash creates surface, the second fry crisps.
They appear everywhere under different names: tostones in Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic and Cuba; patacones in Jamaica's neighbours. Eaten with garlic mojo, with saltfish, or just with salt.
Key ingredients
Where to try it
- Every fritura (fry stand) and beach shack.
- As the side to fried fish across the islands.
- Eaten hot, with lime and salt.