Photo by Ashley van der Laan
My love of plantains started when my mother let me go on an adventure when I was 15 years old to live in Costa Rica for one year as a high school exchange student. While the cuisine of Costa Rica may not be incredibly rich, it vastly expanded my view of food and further sparked my interested in food, partly leading me to where I am today. Since I grew up in rural Saskatchewan where there was little exposure to any kind of ethnic food besides Canadianized Chinese restaurants and locally adapted Ukranian food. Plantains were one of my favourite discoveries during my time in Costa Rica. I loved the sweet ones that were slowly cooked and browned in butter and served with your dinner plate of rice and beans or the smashed salty patacones that my host mother Sonia would make. But my favourite convenience store buy was a bag of plantain chips, savory or sweet. They are ridiculously easy to make as long as you don't mind doing a bit of deep frying in your kitchen.
Plantain Chips
Not much of a recipe is needed to make plantain chips, just some oil for frying, salt for seasoning and green plantains. This recipe can also be made with ripe plantains for a sweeter chip, but I prefer the green plantains for a more savoury snack.
2 green plantains
Vegetable or canola oil
Salt
In a medium to large heavy cast iron pan or large pot, add enough oil to fry chips. Heat oil over medium high heat to 350°F, adjusting the temperature as needed. Peel plantains, slice lengthwise as thin as possible ,while still keeping the slice intact. Once the oil is hot, fry plantains in batches, transfer fried plantains to a baking tray lined with paper towel and a cooling rack. Season while still hot with salt.
Salsa Verde
This is one of my favourite salsas that is great to top tacos, fajitas, eggs with or just simply enjoyed with tortilla or plantain chips. This recipe can be made smokier by grilling all the ingredients just until they are blistered.
5 medium tomatillos, husked and rinsed
1 jalapeno, roughly chopped
1 small onion, medium dice
2 garlic cloves, peeled
2 limes, for juice
A small handful of cilantro
Salt
Bring a small pot of salted water to a boil, cook tomatillos until they lose their bright green colour to a faded pickle shaded green, this will take a few minutes, turning them once or twice. Transfer the tomatillos to a bowl of ice water to cool. Once cool, add tomatillos, jalapeno, onion, garlic to the blender, blend until just everything is broken down but not too finely pureed. Season with salt and fresh lime juice to taste.