When is plantain ripe to cook

You can make plantain chips with green or ripe plantains, whichever suits you better. Yellow plantains can still be boiled though very ripe ones tend to end up a bit too mushy , and any color of plantain can be fried.

Why not buy a bunch of green plantains and experiment? Sorry to give a vague answer, but it kind of depends! The heat and light conditions where you store them will have a big role to play, though. On average, it can take a plantain between one to two weeks to fully ripen. But you can speed that up or slow that down.

But you have two options to keep your plantains green. Stick them in the refrigerator. Immerse them in cold water — maybe in a plastic container — and leave them there until you want to use them. Both these methods reduce enzyme activities in the plantain, preventing it from ripening fast. Be patient your first time and try not to use your nails, because it can get nasty and it can hurt you under your nails.

If you have trouble prying it with your fingers, just use the knife again. Although completely black plantains are still good to eat, they are a little too soft, making them difficult to prepare.

Typically, plantains have to be purchased green and left to ripen on the counter. Depending on the time of year and temperature, they can take anywhere from a few days to a week to ripen. The question should be how not to eat a plantain! There are many, many ways to eat a plantain and it all depends on where it lands on the ripeness scale. The simplest preparation for plantains, green or ripe, is fried. When green, they are very starchy and are best served as tostones , which are twice-fried plantains.

They can also be thinly sliced and fried to make chips. As they ripen, the starches turn into sugars, and when fried, the sugars caramelize and create sweet crispy edges. I like to dip my tostones in fry sauce. Ripe plantains are sweet like a banana, without the banana flavor. They can be eaten raw but are best when fried. The edges caramelize and become crispy like the edges of pancakes cooked in butter.

Those edges are my favorite! I love to pair fried sweet plantains with a side of beans and rice. Plantain chips make a great crispy snack.

When I was in high school, I used to order a bag of plantain chips and a cold Malta for my afternoon snack. Best snack ever. So grab some plantains and trying your hand at making plantain chips! When prepared at this stage, plantains can be used to make sweet, filling, and satisfying platanos maduros. Ask Our Chef about how you can incorporate plantains into your menu! Hungry for more? Check out our recipe library for more inspiration!

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