Fried plantain

Roasted plantain sellers in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso

Fried plantain is a dish cooked wherever plantains grow, from Latin America through West Africa to East Africa, and in many parts of Southeast Asia such as Indonesia, where fried snacks (called gorengan) are widely popular. It is called alloco in Côte d'Ivoire and dodo in Western Nigeria otherwise known as simply fried plantain in other parts of Nigeria. Kelewele is a fried plantain dish of Ghana.^[1]

Fried plantain is also eaten in some countries in South America or the Caribbean where African influence is present. For example, in the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico, it is common to cut plantains in slices, fry them until they are yellow, smash them between two plates and fry them again. This is also a common dish throughout Central America, referred to as patacones in Costa Rica and Panama, and tostones in Guatemala, Nicaragua, and Puerto Rico. In Honduras they are referred to as "tajadas".^[2]

Consumption and uses

Fried plantain may be served as a snack, a starter or as a side dish to a main course, such as with Jollof rice, spicy barbecued meat, tomato stew or beans. It is made in different ways: salted or unsalted, cut into "ears", "fingers", can be diced, or fried whole.

Fried yellow plantains are sweet bananas from Central America fried in hot oil. They are commonly eaten with sour cream there or simply alone.

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  Plantains being fried
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  A platter of fried plantains

See also

• Tostones
• Banana chip
• Pisang goreng
• Vegetable chips

References

1. Isoun, H.O. Anthonio, M. (1983). Nigerian cookbook (Repr. ed.). London: Macmillan. ISBN 0333326989.
2. Tostones