Kitchen Secrets with Our Cuban Chef – Tostones
A tostone is a green plantain that has been fried, flattened and fried again. Two minutes of extra work turns a starchy chunk into something with a shattering edge and a soft middle, salty enough to eat standing at the stove.
They go by different names around the Caribbean and Latin America: patacones in Colombia and Venezuela, banann peze in Haiti, tostones in Cuba and Puerto Rico. The technique is essentially the same everywhere, which tells you how well it works.
The details make the difference, so here is exactly how we do it.
A dish that travelled
Plantains are not native to the Americas. They came from Southeast Asia, moved across Africa, and crossed the Atlantic on Portuguese and Spanish ships in the sixteenth century. In the Caribbean they found a climate that suited them perfectly and a cuisine that had room for them.
West African cooking already had a tradition of frying starchy vegetables twice, and that knowledge came to the islands with enslaved Africans. Cuban food as we know it is built on exactly this kind of layering: an Asian crop, an African technique, a Spanish table.
Today tostones are eaten at every level of Cuban life, from street stalls to family dinners, and they are one of the first things Cuban immigrants started cooking in Tampa.
Ingredients
- 4 large green plantains, completely unripe
- Vegetable or canola oil for frying, about 3 cups
- 2 cups warm water
- 4 garlic cloves, crushed
- 1 tbsp salt, plus more for finishing
How to make Cuban Tostones
- Cut both ends off each plantain. Score the skin lengthwise along the ridges, then work your thumb under the peel and pull it away. Green plantain peel does not slip off like a banana, so take your time.
- Cut the plantains into 1-inch rounds. Cut them straight across, not on a diagonal, so they smash evenly.
- Stir the crushed garlic and tablespoon of salt into the warm water and set it aside. This is what gives the tostones their flavour and keeps them from drying out.
- Heat the oil to 325F. Fry the rounds in batches for 4 to 5 minutes, turning once. They should turn pale gold and soften, not brown. Lift them onto paper towels.
- While still warm, smash each round to about a quarter inch thick. A tostonera works best, but the bottom of a glass or a small plate does the job.
- Dip each smashed round in the garlic water for 2 seconds, then shake off the excess. Any more and the oil will spit.
- Raise the oil to 375F and fry them a second time, 2 to 3 minutes per batch, until deep golden and crisp at the edges. Drain and salt immediately while hot.
Chef’s notes
- The plantains must be green with no yellow at all. Yellow plantains have too much sugar, will burn on the second fry, and are meant for maduros instead.
- The two-temperature method matters. The first fry cooks the starch through, the second one crisps it. One long fry gives you a tostone that is hard outside and raw in the middle.
- Salt them the moment they leave the oil. Once they cool, the salt will not stick.
How to serve them
Tostones are best straight from the pan. Serve them plain with salt, or with a small bowl of mojo for dipping.
They also work as a base: top them with garlic shrimp, shredded pork or ropa vieja and you have tostones rellenos. Next to a Cuban sandwich they are the standard order in Tampa, and they hold up better than fries.
Prefer to let us cook?
We make cuban tostones fresh every day at our kitchen on 5555 S 78th St in Tampa. You can order Plantains for pickup, or browse the full Cuban menu and skip the line.
